"I've played golf with three U.S presidents." -- Lee Trevino
Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American professional golfer. He is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex".
"A hungry dog hunts best.""Golf isn't just my business, it's my hobby.""His nerve, his memory, and I can't remember the third thing.""How can they beat me? I've been struck by lightning, had two back operations, and been divorced twice.""I adore the game of golf. I won't ever retire.""I have an orthopedic pillow that's made out of a sponge material. I have a plate in my throat, and I have to be careful or I could end up with a bad neck in the morning. That pillow is a must everywhere I go.""I met Jesse Owens once. He was a remarkable individual, and I have tremendous respect for what he did in the Olympics under the circumstances.""I never played much golf as a kid. I caddied quite a bit but never got serious into golf until about age 15.""I stay away from the telephone if at all possible.""I still sweat. My guts are still grinding out there. Sometimes I have enough cotton in my mouth to knit a sweater.""I think a lot of Jim Thorpe, the Olympian, and his accomplishments.""I use an Arnold Palmer putter that was probably built back in 1954.""I'm actually a very quiet person off the golf course. I talk 150 miles per hour when I'm at the course, but when in private I very seldom ever open my mouth.""I'm going to win so much money this year, my caddie will make the top twenty money winner's list.""I'm not out there just to be dancing around. I expect to win every time I tee up.""I'm not scared of very much. I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years.""I've traveled the world and been about everywhere you can imagine. There's not anything I'm scared of except my wife.""If I could do anything over, I'd have spent more time with my first set of children. I would have taken more quality time with them, for sure.""If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.""In case of a thunderstorm, stand in the middle of the fairway and hold up a one iron. Not even God can hit a one iron.""Living in Dallas, I root for the Mavericks and the Stars and the Cowboys, but I've always pulled for the Chicago Cubs. I enjoy watching them play.""Michael Jordan was a tremendous basketball player.""My divorce came to me as a complete surprise. That's what happens when you haven't been home in eighteen years.""My wife doesn't care what I do when I'm away, as long as I don't have a good time.""No one who ever had lessons would have a swing like mine.""Nobody but you and your caddie care what you do out there, and if your caddie is betting against you, he doesn't care, either.""One of the nice things about the Senior Tour is that we can take a cart and cooler. If your game is not going well, you can always have a picnic.""Pressure is playing for ten dollars when you don't have a dime in your pocket.""Pressure is when you play for five dollars a hole with only two in your pocket.""Putts get real difficult the day they hand out the money.""The most interesting guy I've ever played with was King Hassan of Morocco. I went over there on a trip in the early 1970s, and the King and I played five holes. I've never been that nervous in my life.""The older I get the better I used to be!""There are two things that won't last long in this world, and that's dogs chasing cars and pros putting for pars.""There is no such thing as natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.""When it comes to the game of life, I figure I've played the whole course.""Yes, I think I have the best swing on the Tour. Why have scores comedown in the last ten years? Partly because they are imitating me.""You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work.""You can talk to a fade but a hook won't listen."
Trevino was born in Dallas, Texas into a family of Mexican ancestry. He was raised by his mother, Juanita Trevino, and his grandfather, Joe Trevino, a gravedigger. Trevino never knew his father, Joseph Trevino, who left when his son was small. Trevino's childhood consisted of attending school occasionally and working to earn money for the family. At age five, he started working in the cotton fields.
Trevino was introduced to golf when his uncle gave him a few golf balls and an old golf club. He then spent his free time sneaking into nearby country clubs to practice and began as a caddy at the Dallas Athletic Club. He soon began caddying full time. Trevino had to leave school at 14 to go to work. He earned $30 a week as a caddy and a shoeshiner. He was also able to practice golf, since the caddies had three short holes behind their shack. After work, he would hit at least 300 balls. Trevino has claimed to have earned extra money by challenging competitors to rounds of golf where he used only a shovel and 32 ounce glass Dr. Pepper bottle. When he turned 17, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and served four years. Part of his time was spent playing golf with Marine Corps officers. Trevino claims being a golf partner helped earn him promotion to lance corporal.
After his discharge, Trevino became a club professional in El Paso, Texas. He made extra money by gambling for stakes in head-to-head matches. He began play on the PGA Tour in 1967. In his second U.S. Open golf championship, he shot 283, eight shots behind champion Jack Nicklaus, and earned $6,000 for finishing fifth. He won $26,472 as a rookie, 45th on the PGA Tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest.
In 1968, his second year on the circuit, Trevino won the U.S. Open at the Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, New York. During his career, Trevino won 29 times on the PGA Tour, including six majors. He was at his best in the 1970s, when he was Jack Nicklaus's chief rival. He won the money list title in 1970, and had ten wins in 1971 and 1972. These included the 1971 U.S. Open, which he took in an 18-hole playoff over Jack Nicklaus. Two weeks later, he won the Canadian Open, and the following week The Open Championship, becoming the first player to win those titles in the same year. Trevino was awarded the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of 1971. He also won Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" and was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.
He was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, and suffered injuries to his spine. He underwent surgery to remove a damaged spinal disk, but back problems continued to hamper his play. Nevertheless, he was ranked second in McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1980, behind Tom Watson, and won his sixth major, the PGA Championship at the age of 44. In the early 1980s, Trevino was second on the PGA Tour career money list, behind only Jack Nicklaus.
Trevino won more than 20 international and unofficial professional tournaments. He was one of the charismatic stars who was instrumental in making the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) an early success. He claimed 29 wins, including four senior majors. He topped the seniors' money list in 1990 and 1992.
From 1983 to 1989 Trevino worked as a color analyst for PGA Tour coverage on NBC television.
His self—taught style, distinguished by an out-to-in swing designed to fade the ball (which he devised to combat a chronic hook), led to many exciting shots and skins game victories.
A major avenue in El Paso, Texas was named after him.
Trevino played for the United States in the Ryder Cup six times (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981), and had an impressive 17-7-6 win-loss-half record. He also served as team captain in 1985.
Trevino won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average five times: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1980.
Trevino has established numerous scholarships and other financial aid to Mexican Americans.
He co-authored his autobiography, titled They Call Me Super Mex.
Trevino was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
In 2000, Trevino was ranked as the 14th-greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.
Throughout his career, Trevino was seen as approachable and humorous, and was frequently quoted by the press. Late in his career, he remarked, "I played the tour in 1967 and told jokes and nobody laughed. Then I won the Open the next year, told the same jokes, and everybody laughed like hell." At the beginning of their 1971 playoff for the U.S. Open, he threw a rubber snake at Jack Nicklaus. In his early career, much attention was given by the press to a plastic "BandAid" he wore on his forearm to cover a tattoo of the name of his ex-wife. He has since had this tattoo removed by a plastic surgeon using a laser technique.
After he was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, Trevino was asked by a reporter what he would do if he were out on the course and it began to storm again. Trevino answered he would take out his 1 iron and point it to the sky, "because not even God can hit the 1 iron."
Trevino has also said: "I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years. I've traveled the world and been about everywhere you can imagine. There's not anything I'm scared of except my wife."
Trevino had a cameo appearance in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.
1994 (6) Royal Caribbean Classic, PGA Seniors' Championship, PaineWebber Invitational, Bell Atlantic Classic, BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland, Northville Long Island Classic
1995 (2) Northville Long Island Classic, The Transamerica
1996 (1) Emerald Coast Classic
1998 (1) Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000 (1) Cadillac NFL Golf Classic
Senior majors are shown in bold.
Other senior wins (10)
1991 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mike Hill)
1992 Mitsukoshi Classic, Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mike Hill)
1993 American Express Grandslam
1994 American Express Grandslam
1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mike Hill)
1996 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mike Hill), Australian PGA Seniors' Championship
2000 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Mike Hill)
In The Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud", Lee Trevino is spoofed as Lee Caravallo in hosting a game called Lee Caravallo's Putting Challenge. Trevino had a similar game called Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf, which was released in 1988 for the Nintendo.
He is the first person known to have played pine cone golf.
During the 1985-86 NHL season, when Todd Bergen walked out on the Philadelphia Flyers insisting that he would pursue a PGA Tour Career, Flyers manager Bobby Clarke retorted, "Who will I trade [Bergen] for — Lee Trevino?"
