Lee Trevino

Lee Trevino
Trevino in April 2010
Personal information
Full name	Lee Buck Trevino
Nickname	The Merry Mex, Supermex
Born	(1939-12-01) December 1, 1939 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Spouse	Claudia Bove (m.1983–present) Claudia Fenley (divorced)
Children	Richard, Lesley Ann, Tony Lee, Troy, Olivia Leigh, Daniel Lee
Career
Turned professional	1960
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	92
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	29 (tied 19th all time)
European Tour	2
Japan Golf Tour	1
PGA Tour Champions	29 (3rd all time)
Other	21 (regular) 10 (senior)
Best results in major championships (wins: 6)
Masters Tournament	T10: 1975, 1985
U.S. Open	Won: 1968, 1971
The Open Championship	Won: 1971, 1972
PGA Championship	Won: 1974, 1984
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1981 (member page)
PGA Player of the Year	1971
Vardon Trophy	1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980
Byron Nelson Award	1980
PGA Tour leading money winner	1970
Jack Nicklaus Trophy (Champions Tour)	1990, 1992, 1994
Arnold Palmer Award (Champions Tour)	1990, 1992
Rookie of the Year (Champions Tour)	1990
Byron Nelson Award (Champions Tour)	1990, 1991, 1992
Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year	1971
Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year	1971

Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is a retired American professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in professional golf history^[1][2][3] and the greatest Hispanic golfer of all time.^[4] He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.

Trevino won six major championships and 29 PGA Tour events over the course of his career. He is one of only four players to twice win the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. The only major that eluded him was the Masters Tournament.^[5]

He is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex," both affectionate nicknames given to him by other golfers.^[6]

Early life

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. During his childhood, Trevino occasionally attended school and worked to earn money for the family. At age 5, he started working in the cotton fields.^[7]

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 caddie at the Dallas Athletic Club, near his home. He soon began caddying full-time. Trevino left school at age 14 to go to work. He earned $30 a week as a caddie and shoe shiner. 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. Many of these practice shots were struck from the bare ground with very little grass (known locally as 'Texas hardpan') and often in very windy conditions. It is this that is widely believed to be the reason Trevino developed his extremely unique (many would say unorthodox) and compact swing method which, of course, he went on to develop and groove with tremendous effect.^[8] A very pronounced controlled 'fade' was undoubtedly his signature shot, although he had many other shot-types in his repertoire and he is, still to this day, remembered as one of the very finest shot-makers of all time.

When Trevino turned 17 in December 1956, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and served four years as a machine gunner and was discharged in December 1960 as a corporal with the 3rd Marine Division. Part of his time was spent playing golf with Marine Corps officers. He played successfully in Armed Forces golf events in Asia, where one rival was Orville Moody, who would follow Trevino to the PGA Tour in the late 1960s.^[9]

Professional career

After Trevino was discharged from the Marines, he went to work as club professional in El Paso, Texas. He made extra money by gambling for stakes in head-to-head matches. He qualified for the U.S. Open in 1966, made the cut, and tied for 54th, earning $600. He qualified again in 1967 and shot 283 (+3), eight shots behind champion Jack Nicklaus, and only four behind runner-up Arnold Palmer. Trevino earned $6,000 for finishing fifth, which earned him Tour privileges for the rest of the 1967 season. He won $26,472 as a rookie, 45th on the PGA Tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest. The fifth-place finish at the U.S. Open also earned him an exemption into the following year's event.

In 1968, his second year on the circuit, Trevino won the U.S. Open at Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, New York, four strokes ahead of runner-up Nicklaus, the defending champion. During his career, Trevino won 29 times on the PGA Tour, including six majors. He was at his best in the early 1970s, when he was Jack Nicklaus's chief rival. He won the money list title in 1970, and had six wins in 1971 and four wins in 1972.

Trevino had a remarkable string of victories during a span of 20 days in the summer of 1971. He defeated Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff to win the 1971 U.S. Open. Two weeks later, he won the Canadian Open (the first of three), and the following week won The Open Championship (British Open), becoming the first player to win those three 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"^[10] and was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

In 1972 at Muirfield in Scotland, Trevino became the first player to successfully defend The Open Championship since Arnold Palmer in 1962. In a remarkable third round at Muirfield, Trevino had five consecutive birdies from the 14th through the 18th, holing a bunker shot on the 16th and sinking a 30–foot chip on the 18th for a round of 66. In the final round, Trevino was tied for the lead on the 17th tee with Tony Jacklin. Trevino chipped in from rough on the back of the green for a par on the 17th. A shaken Jacklin three-putted the same hole from 15 feet for a bogey. Trevino parred the 18th hole for a final round of 71, winning him the Open by a stroke over Nicklaus, with Jacklin finishing third. Trevino holed out four times from off the greens during the tournament. Nicklaus had won the first two majors of the year (Masters, U.S. Open) and fell just short in the third leg of the grand slam.^[11] After holing his chip shot on the 17th in the final round, Trevino said: "I'm the greatest chipper in the world."^[12]

In the PGA Championship in 1974, Trevino won the fifth of his six major championships. He won the title by a stroke, again over Nicklaus, the fourth and final time he was a runner-up in a major to Trevino. At the Western Open near Chicago in 1975, Trevino was struck by lightning,^{[13][14][15][16]} 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. Trevino had 3 PGA Tour wins in 1980 and finished runner-up to Tom Watson in the 1980 Open Championship. At the age of 44, Trevino won his sixth and final major at the PGA Championship in 1984, with a 15-under-par score of 273, becoming the first player to shoot all four rounds under 70 in the PGA Championship.^[17] He was the runner-up the following year in 1985, attempting to become the first repeat champion since Denny Shute in 1937.

In the early 1980s, Trevino was second on the PGA Tour's career money list, behind only Nicklaus.^[18] From 1968 to 1981 inclusive, Trevino won at least one PGA Tour event a year, a streak of 14 seasons. He also 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 PGA Tour Champions) an early success. He claimed 29 senior wins, including four senior majors. He topped the seniors' money list in 1990 and 1992.

From 1983 to 1989, he worked as a color analyst for PGA Tour coverage on NBC television. In 2014 Trevino was named "Golf Professional Emeritus" at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a position previously held by Sam Snead and Tom Watson.

Distinctions and honors

• Trevino was the first player to shoot all four regulation rounds under par at the U.S. Open. At Oak Hill in 1968, Trevino played rounds of 69-68-69-69.
• A major street in El Paso, Texas, was named Lee Trevino Drive in his honor, and streets in Rio Rancho and Belen, New Mexico were also named for him.
• One of two golfers to win the PGA Tour's three oldest events in the same year: The Open Championship (1860), the U.S. Open (1895), and the Canadian Open (1904). Trevino won in 1971^[22] and Tiger Woods won in 2000
• 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 (.667) 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.
• Trevino was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
• In 2000, Golf Digest magazine ranked Trevino as the 14th-greatest golfer of all time.^[23]

Humor

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."^[24]

At the beginning of Trevino's 1971 U.S. Open playoff against Jack Nicklaus, he threw a rubber snake that his daughter had put in his bag as a joke, at Nicklaus, who later admitted that he asked Trevino to throw it to him so he could see it. Trevino grabbed the rubbery object and playfully tossed it at Nicklaus, getting a scream from a nearby woman and a hearty laugh from Nicklaus. Trevino shot a 68 to defeat Nicklaus by three strokes.^[25]

During one tournament, Tony Jacklin, paired with Trevino, said: "Lee, I don't want to talk today." Trevino retorted: "I don't want you to talk. I just want you to listen."^[26]

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 said later in an interview with David Feherty that he must have tempted God the week before by staying outside during a lightning delay to entertain the crowds, saying "I deserved to get hit...God can hit a 1-iron."

Trevino 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."^[27]

Professional wins (92)

PGA Tour wins (29)

Legend

Major championships (6)

Players Championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (22)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jun 16, 1968	U.S. Open	69-68-69-69=275	−5	4 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
2	Nov 10, 1968	Hawaiian Open	68-71-65-68=272	−16	2 strokes	George Archer
3	Feb 23, 1969	Tucson Open Invitational	67-70-68-66=271	−17	7 strokes	Miller Barber
4	Feb 15, 1970	Tucson Open Invitational (2)	66-68-72-69=275	−13	Playoff	Bob Murphy
5	Mar 29, 1970	National Airlines Open Invitational	69-66-68-71=274	−14	Playoff	Bob Menne
6	Apr 25, 1971	Tallahassee Open Invitational	69-67-69-68=273	−15	3 strokes	Jim Wiechers
7	May 30, 1971	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	66-66-69-67=268	−12	4 strokes	Lee Elder, Hale Irwin, Randy Wolff, Jerry Heard
8	Jun 21, 1971	U.S. Open (2)	70-72-69-69=280	Even	Playoff	Jack Nicklaus
9	Jul 4, 1971	Canadian Open	73-68-67-67=275	−13	Playoff	Art Wall, Jr.
10	Jul 10, 1971	The Open Championship	69-70-69-70=278	−14	1 stroke	Lu Liang-Huan
11	Oct 31, 1971	Sahara Invitational	69-72-73-66=280	−8	1 stroke	George Archer
12	May 21, 1972	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic (2)	70-72-72-67=281	−7	4 strokes	John Mahaffey
13	Jul 15, 1972	The Open Championship (2)	71-70-66-71=278	−6	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
14	Sep 4, 1972	Greater Hartford Open Invitational	64-68-72-65=269	−15	Playoff	Lee Elder
15	Sep 17, 1972	Greater St. Louis Golf Classic	65-68-66-70=269	−11	1 stroke	Deane Beman
16	Feb 25, 1973	Jackie Gleason Inverrary- National Airlines Classic	69-69-69-72=279	−9	1 stroke	Forrest Fezler
17	Mar 11, 1973	Doral-Eastern Open	64-70-71-71=276	−12	1 stroke	Bruce Crampton, Tom Weiskopf
18	Mar 31, 1974	Greater New Orleans Open	67-68-67-65=267	−21	8 strokes	Bobby Cole, Ben Crenshaw
19	Aug 11, 1974	PGA Championship	73-66-68-69=276	−4	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
20	Mar 9, 1975	Florida Citrus Open	69-66-70-71=276	−12	1 stroke	Hale Irwin
21	May 16, 1976	Colonial National Invitation	68-64-68-73=273	−7	1 stroke	Mike Morley
22	Jul 24, 1977	Canadian Open (2)	67-68-71-74=280	−8	4 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis
23	May 14, 1978	Colonial National Invitation	66-68-68-66=268	−12	4 strokes	Jerry Heard, Jerry Pate
24	Jun 24, 1979	Canadian Open (3)	67-71-72-71=281	−3	3 strokes	Ben Crenshaw
25	Mar 23, 1980	Tournament Players Championship	68-72-68-70=278	−10	1 stroke	Ben Crenshaw
26	Jun 29, 1980	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic (3)	67-68-68-69=272	−16	1 stroke	Tom Purtzer
27	Sep 21, 1980	San Antonio Texas Open	66-67-67-65=265	−15	1 stroke	Terry Diehl
28	Apr 19, 1981	MONY Tournament of Champions	67-67-70-69=273	−15	2 strokes	Raymond Floyd
29	Aug 19, 1984	PGA Championship (2)	69-68-67-69=273	−15	4 strokes	Gary Player, Lanny Wadkins

PGA Tour playoff record (5–5)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1970	Tucson Open Invitational	Bob Murphy	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1970	National Airlines Open Invitational	Bob Menne	Won with par on second extra hole
3	1970	Kaiser International Open Invitational	Ken Still, Bert Yancey	Still won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1971	Kemper Open	Dale Douglass, Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf	Weiskopf won with birdie on first extra hole
5	1971	U.S. Open	Jack Nicklaus	Won 18-hole playoff (Trevino:68, Nicklaus:71)
6	1971	Canadian Open	Art Wall, Jr.	Won with birdie on first extra hole
7	1972	Greater Hartford Open	Lee Elder	Won with birdie on first extra hole
8	1978	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	Andy Bean	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
9	1978	Greater Milwaukee Open	Lee Elder	Lost to par on eighth extra hole
10	1980	Michelob-Houston Open	Curtis Strange	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 12, 1978	Benson & Hedges International Open	69-67-72-66=274	−10	Playoff	Neil Coles, Noel Ratcliffe
2	Jun 10, 1985	Dunhill British Masters	74-68-69-67=278	−10	3 strokes	Rodger Davis

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	1978	Benson & Hedges International Open	Neil Coles, Noel Ratcliffe	Won with par on fourth extra hole Ratcliffe eliminated by par on first hole
2	1986	Benson & Hedges International Open	Hugh Baiocchi, Mark James	James won with birdie on first extra hole

Champions Tour wins (29)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Feb 4, 1990	Royal Caribbean Classic	71-67-68=206	−10	1 stroke	Butch Baird, Jim Dent
2	Feb 18, 1990	Aetna Challenge	66-67-67=200	−16	1 stroke	Bruce Crampton
3	Mar 4, 1990	Vintage Chrysler Invitational	66-67-72=205	−11	1 stroke	Dale Douglass, Mike Hill, Don Massengale
4	May 20, 1990	Doug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity Classic	67-67-69=203	−13	6 strokes	Gary Player
5	Jun 3, 1990	NYNEX Commemorative	66-66-67=199	−11	Playoff	Mike Fetchick, Jimmy Powell, Chi-Chi Rodríguez
6	Jul 1, 1990	U.S. Senior Open	67-68-73-67=275	−13	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
7	Oct 21, 1990	Transamerica Senior Golf Championship	73-67-65=205	−11	2 strokes	Mike Hill
8	Feb 17, 1991	Aetna Challenge	71-68-66=205	−11	1 stroke	Dale Douglass
9	Mar 17, 1991	Vantage at The Dominion	67-70=137	−7	2 strokes	Mike Hill, Charles Coody, Rocky Thompson
10	Aug 25, 1991	Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic	66-65-69=200	−16	4 strokes	Jim O'Hern, Chi Chi Rodríguez
11	Mar 15, 1992	Vantage at The Dominion	68-66-67=201	−15	2 strokes	Chi Chi Rodríguez
12	Apr 5, 1992	The Tradition	67-69-68-70=274	−15	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
13	Apr 19, 1992	PGA Seniors' Championship	72-64-71-71=278	−10	1 stroke	Mike Hill
14	May 3, 1992	Las Vegas Senior Classic	71-68-67=206	−10	1 stroke	Orville Moody
15	May 24, 1992	Bell Atlantic Classic	65-72-68=205	−5	1 stroke	Gibby Gilbert
16	May 30, 1993	Cadillac NFL Golf Classic	67-70-72=209	−7	2 stroke	Bruce Crampton, Raymond Floyd
17	Sep 26, 1993	Nationwide Championship	66-66-73=205	−11	2 strokes	George Archer, Jim Ferree, Mike Hill, Dave Stockton, Rocky Thompson
18	Oct 3, 1993	Vantage Championship	65-67-66=198	−18	5 strokes	DeWitt Weaver
19	Feb 6, 1994	Royal Caribbean Classic	66-73-66=205	−8	Playoff	Kermit Zarley
20	Apr 17, 1994	PGA Seniors' Championship	70-69-70-70=279	−9	1 stroke	Jim Colbert
21	May 15, 1994	PaineWebber Invitational	70-65-68=203	−13	1 stroke	Jim Colbert, Jimmy Powell
22	May 29, 1994	Bell Atlantic Classic	71-67-68=206	−4	2 strokes	Mike Hill
23	Jun 19, 1994	BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland	67-65-67=199	−17	1 stroke	Jim Albus, Dave Stockton
24	Jul 31, 1994	Northville Long Island Classic	66-69-65=200	−17	7 strokes	Jim Colbert
25	Aug 20, 1995	Northville Long Island Classic	67-69-66=202	−14	4 strokes	Buddy Allin
26	Oct 8, 1995	The Transamerica	66-69-66=201	−15	3 strokes	Bruce Summerhays
27	Nov 3, 1996	Emerald Coast Classic	69-70-68=207	−3	Playoff	Bob Eastwood, David Graham, Mike Hill, Dave Stockton
28	Mar 29, 1998	Southwestern Bell Dominion	69-69-67=205	−11	2 strokes	Mike McCullough
29	Jun 25, 2000	Cadillac NFL Golf Classic	66-67-69=202	−14	2 strokes	Walter Hall

Champions Tour playoff record (3–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1990	NYNEX Commemorative	Mike Fetchick, Jimmy Powell Chi-Chi Rodríguez	Trevino wins with birdie on fifth extra hole Powell and Rodríguez eliminated with birdie on first hole
2	1990	New York Life Champions	Dale Douglass, Mike Hill	Hill won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1993	Ping Kaanapali Classic	George Archer, Dave Stockton	Archer won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1994	Royal Caribbean Classic	Kermit Zarley	Won with par on fourth extra hole
5	1996	Emerald Coast Classic	Bob Eastwood, David Graham, Mike Hill, Dave Stockton	Won with birdie on first extra hole
6	1997	Home Depot Invitational	Jim Dent, Larry Gilbert	Dent won with birdie on second extra hole Gilbert eliminated with birdie on first hole

Senior majors are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1968	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	−5 (69-68-69-69=275)	4 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
1971	U.S. Open (2)	4 shot deficit	E (70-72-69-69=280)	Playoff 1	Jack Nicklaus
1971	The Open Championship	1 shot lead	−14 (69-70-69-70=278)	1 stroke	Lu Liang-Huan
1972	The Open Championship (2)	1 shot lead	−6 (71-70-66-71=278)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
1974	PGA Championship	1 shot lead	−4 (73-66-68-69=276)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
1984	PGA Championship (2)	1 shot lead	−15 (69-68-67-69=273)	4 strokes	Gary Player, Lanny Wadkins

¹ Defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff – Trevino 68 (−2), Nicklaus 71 (+1).

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1990	U.S. Senior Open	−13 (67–68–73–67=275)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
1992	The Tradition	−14 (67–69–68–70=274)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
1992	PGA Seniors' Championship	−10 (72–64–71–71=278)	1 stroke	Mike Hill
1994	PGA Seniors' Championship (2)	−9 (70–69–70–70=279)	1 stroke	Jim Colbert

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1969 (tied), 1971 (winners), 1973 (winners), 1975 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners), 1985 (non-playing captain)
• World Cup: 1968, 1969 (winners, individual winner), 1970, 1971 (winners), 1974

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Trevino.

• Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps
• List of golfers with most Champions Tour wins
• List of golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins
• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• List of men's major championships winning golfers
• Monday Night Golf
• Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf

References

Further reading

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas (1995). The Mexican American Family Album. New York: Oxford University Press. ASIN B004HOS1EC.

External links

• Lee Trevino at the PGA Tour official site
• Lee Trevino at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Lee Trevino at the European Tour official site
• Profile at answers.com