Starting my PGA Tour life I played 24 tournaments in ’64 and ’65 on $6000 courtesy of Shoal Creek’s Hall Thompson and won the grand total of $0 dollars. Bert Yancey told me of a job in Cairo, Georgia where I could play all the golf I wanted and meet some great people. Great move! Took the job, set goals to win all the majors in Georgia in 1966; Georgia Open, Atlanta Open, Georgia PGA, Dixie PGA and become a better than +3 handicap. Accomplished all but win the Georgia Open where I finished 2nd. I then felt I could compete on the PGA Tour and went back to the 1966 Tour Qualifying School where I won a tour card. Davis Love, the pro at Atlanta CC called me and asked if I wanted to go back on the tour and if so he had a gentleman that might want to sponsor me. For the next few years I played and struggled with my game, my discipline and my faith. I was at the end of my playing career and struggling with the loss of my mother in 1970. It seems as if things sometimes are at the worst when suddenly God reaches out His hand and lifts us up. My father and a friend gave me $3000 to go to the Hawaiian Open for our last hurrah on the PGA Tour. They told us to just have a great time, enjoy the islands, and not worry about tomorrow. Watching the Sony at Waialae this weekend brought back fantastic memories of a great trip. Sheri and I rented a dune buggy, explored Oahu and ended up on the putting green at Waialae CC, site of the ’71 Hawaiian Open. All of a sudden I became a great putter. It seemed as if the ball made a loud sound every time I putted. Now you have it, I am paired with Arnold Palmer the last day and have the lead in the tournament by one shot with three to go. Tom Shaw birdies #16 and #17 in front of me. Arnold hits first on #17 from 194 yards downwind with a four iron and puts his ball five feet from the hole. I took a five, turned it loose right at the pin. Whoops, Arnold had put one over on me as he took what looked like a big swing, but really just chipped a four iron as I learned personally from him a few years ago. My ball flew in the stands over the green. John Schlee hit a seven iron on the hole and Tom Shaw birdied the hole with a six. Lesson (do not look in an opponent’s bag in competitive situations). As it turned out the 1971 Hawaiian Open was a life changer on the tour as I finished in third place, won $14,000 which to me was worth way more than the $363,000 the third place tie this year received. Arnold Palmer is a great person that Sheri and I both admire, but has always had that competitive drive and will to win. All the pros that have had success on the tour thank him for making golf what it is today. 1971 tournament results are attached.