Lee Trevino was one of the other greats of the Jack Nicklaus era in PGA Tour history, a 6-time major champion whose career was interrupted by injuries suffered after he was struck by lightning. Despite that, Trevino’s achievements place him among the game’s greats.
Date of birth: Dec. 1, 1939Place of birth: Dallas, TexasNickname: Merry Mex
Tour Victories
PGA Tour: 29 (view list)Champions Tour: 29 (view list)
Major Championships
6
U.S. Open: 1968, 1971 British Open: 1971, 1972 PGA Championship: 1974, 1984
Awards and Honors
Member, World Golf Hall of Fame PGA Tour money leader, 1970 PGA Vardon Trophy winner (low scoring average), 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980 PGA Tour Player of the Year, 1971 Member, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981 Captain, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1985
Famous Quotations
• Lee Trevino: “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.”
• Lee Trevino: “There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.”
• Lee Trevino: “You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”
More Lee Trevino Quotes
Trivia
Lee Trevino was the first golfer to win the U.S. Open, Canadian Open and British Open in the same year. Trevino did so in 1971. Only Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat since.
Lee Trevino Biography
Lee Trevino rose up from a hardscrabble youth to become one of the greatest golfers of his time, or any time. He did it by hitting millions of golf balls, and he did it with an on-course smile and a wit rarely matched in golf history.
Trevino was born into poverty and never knew his father. He was raised by his mother and his grandfather, a gravedigger. Lee began working at a very early age, toiling in the Texas cotton fields as young as age 5.
But when an uncle gave him a rusty golf club and a few beat-up balls, the young Trevino found his calling. He began caddying at age eight, sometimes attending school but more often working or practicing golf.
At age 17, Trevino joined the Marines and served four years. Following his discharge, he returned to golf, becoming a club pro in 1960. While at an El Paso club in the mid-1960s, the then-unknown Trevino battled the already famous Ray Floyd over three titanic days in one of the most legendary gambling matches in golf history. They came out even.
Trevino found his way onto the PGA Tour in 1967, and quickly established himself as one of the best. He won the 1968 U.S. Open, and from then until around 1974 was a dominant force. He won all but one of his six majors during that span, and four scoring titles. His 1971 U.S. Open victory is his best-known, as he defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff for the win. Trevino nipped Nicklaus again at the 1972 British Open, the second of his back-to-back wins there.
Trevino was nearly killed when he was struck by lightning during a tournament in 1975. The injuries he suffered lingered, including back problems, but he recovered to win another Vardon Trophy in 1980. The 1984 PGA Championship was his final major and final PGA Tour victory.
Trevino was just as good on the Champions Tour, winning 29 times - the same number of wins he had on the PGA Tour and the second-most in the history of the senior tour.
Trevino is considered one of the best ballstrikers, and one of the most creative ballstrikers, the game has ever seen. He aligned left of his target and faded the ball, and was amazingly consistent at placing the ball right where he wanted it.
Lee Trevino was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
Here is the list of golf tournaments won by Lee Trevino on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. He won 29 times on each tour.
Trevino’s PGA Tour Victories
1968U.S. OpenHawaiian Open
1969Tucson Open Invitational
1970Tuscon Open InvitationalNational Airlines Open Invitational
1971Tallahassee Open InvitationalDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicU.S. OpenCanadian OpenBritish OpenSahara Invitational
1972Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicBritish OpenGreater Hartford Open InvitationalGreater St. Louis Golf Classic
1973Jackie Gleason Inverrary-National Airlines ClassicDoral-Eastern Open
1974Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalPGA Championship
1975Florida Citrus Open
1976Colonial National Invitation
1977Canadian Open
1978Colonial National Invitation
1979Canadian Open
1980Tournament Players ChampionshipDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicSan Antonio Texas Open
1981MONY Tournament of Champions
1984PGA Championship
Trevino’s Champions Tour Wins
1990Royal Caribbean ClassicAetna ChallengeVintage Chrysler InvitationalDoug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity ClassicNYNEX CommemorativeU.S. Senior OpenTransamerica Senior Golf Championship
1991Aetna ChallengeVantage at The DominionSunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic
1992Vantage at The DominionThe TraditionPGA Seniors ChampionshipLas Vegas Senior ClassicBell Atlantic Classic
1993Cadillac NFL Golf ClassicNationwide ChampionshipVantage Championship
1994Royal Caribbean ClassicPGA Seniors ChampionshipPaineWebber InvitationalBell Atlantic ClassicBellSouth Senior Classic at OprylandNorthville Long Island Classic
1995Northville Long Island ClassicThe Transamerica
1996Emerald Coast Classic
1998Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000Cadillac NFL Classic
Lee Trevino was one of the other greats of the Jack Nicklaus era in PGA Tour history, a 6-time major champion whose career was interrupted by injuries suffered after he was struck by lightning. Despite that, Trevino’s achievements place him among the game’s greats.
Date of birth: Dec. 1, 1939Place of birth: Dallas, TexasNickname: Merry Mex
Tour Victories
PGA Tour: 29 (view list)Champions Tour: 29 (view list)
Major Championships
6
U.S. Open: 1968, 1971 British Open: 1971, 1972 PGA Championship: 1974, 1984
Awards and Honors
Member, World Golf Hall of Fame PGA Tour money leader, 1970 PGA Vardon Trophy winner (low scoring average), 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980 PGA Tour Player of the Year, 1971 Member, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981 Captain, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1985
Famous Quotations
• Lee Trevino: “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.”
• Lee Trevino: “There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.”
• Lee Trevino: “You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”
More Lee Trevino Quotes
Trivia
Lee Trevino was the first golfer to win the U.S. Open, Canadian Open and British Open in the same year. Trevino did so in 1971. Only Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat since.
Lee Trevino Biography
Lee Trevino rose up from a hardscrabble youth to become one of the greatest golfers of his time, or any time. He did it by hitting millions of golf balls, and he did it with an on-course smile and a wit rarely matched in golf history.
Trevino was born into poverty and never knew his father. He was raised by his mother and his grandfather, a gravedigger. Lee began working at a very early age, toiling in the Texas cotton fields as young as age 5.
But when an uncle gave him a rusty golf club and a few beat-up balls, the young Trevino found his calling. He began caddying at age eight, sometimes attending school but more often working or practicing golf.
At age 17, Trevino joined the Marines and served four years. Following his discharge, he returned to golf, becoming a club pro in 1960. While at an El Paso club in the mid-1960s, the then-unknown Trevino battled the already famous Ray Floyd over three titanic days in one of the most legendary gambling matches in golf history. They came out even.
Trevino found his way onto the PGA Tour in 1967, and quickly established himself as one of the best. He won the 1968 U.S. Open, and from then until around 1974 was a dominant force. He won all but one of his six majors during that span, and four scoring titles. His 1971 U.S. Open victory is his best-known, as he defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff for the win. Trevino nipped Nicklaus again at the 1972 British Open, the second of his back-to-back wins there.
Trevino was nearly killed when he was struck by lightning during a tournament in 1975. The injuries he suffered lingered, including back problems, but he recovered to win another Vardon Trophy in 1980. The 1984 PGA Championship was his final major and final PGA Tour victory.
Trevino was just as good on the Champions Tour, winning 29 times - the same number of wins he had on the PGA Tour and the second-most in the history of the senior tour.
Trevino is considered one of the best ballstrikers, and one of the most creative ballstrikers, the game has ever seen. He aligned left of his target and faded the ball, and was amazingly consistent at placing the ball right where he wanted it.
Lee Trevino was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
Here is the list of golf tournaments won by Lee Trevino on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. He won 29 times on each tour.
Trevino’s PGA Tour Victories
1968U.S. OpenHawaiian Open
1969Tucson Open Invitational
1970Tuscon Open InvitationalNational Airlines Open Invitational
1971Tallahassee Open InvitationalDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicU.S. OpenCanadian OpenBritish OpenSahara Invitational
1972Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicBritish OpenGreater Hartford Open InvitationalGreater St. Louis Golf Classic
1973Jackie Gleason Inverrary-National Airlines ClassicDoral-Eastern Open
1974Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalPGA Championship
1975Florida Citrus Open
1976Colonial National Invitation
1977Canadian Open
1978Colonial National Invitation
1979Canadian Open
1980Tournament Players ChampionshipDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicSan Antonio Texas Open
1981MONY Tournament of Champions
1984PGA Championship
Trevino’s Champions Tour Wins
1990Royal Caribbean ClassicAetna ChallengeVintage Chrysler InvitationalDoug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity ClassicNYNEX CommemorativeU.S. Senior OpenTransamerica Senior Golf Championship
1991Aetna ChallengeVantage at The DominionSunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic
1992Vantage at The DominionThe TraditionPGA Seniors ChampionshipLas Vegas Senior ClassicBell Atlantic Classic
1993Cadillac NFL Golf ClassicNationwide ChampionshipVantage Championship
1994Royal Caribbean ClassicPGA Seniors ChampionshipPaineWebber InvitationalBell Atlantic ClassicBellSouth Senior Classic at OprylandNorthville Long Island Classic
1995Northville Long Island ClassicThe Transamerica
1996Emerald Coast Classic
1998Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000Cadillac NFL Classic
Lee Trevino was one of the other greats of the Jack Nicklaus era in PGA Tour history, a 6-time major champion whose career was interrupted by injuries suffered after he was struck by lightning. Despite that, Trevino’s achievements place him among the game’s greats.
Date of birth: Dec. 1, 1939Place of birth: Dallas, TexasNickname: Merry Mex
Tour Victories
PGA Tour: 29 (view list)Champions Tour: 29 (view list)
Major Championships
6
U.S. Open: 1968, 1971 British Open: 1971, 1972 PGA Championship: 1974, 1984
Awards and Honors
Member, World Golf Hall of Fame PGA Tour money leader, 1970 PGA Vardon Trophy winner (low scoring average), 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980 PGA Tour Player of the Year, 1971 Member, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981 Captain, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1985
Famous Quotations
• Lee Trevino: “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.”
• Lee Trevino: “There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.”
• Lee Trevino: “You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”
More Lee Trevino Quotes
Trivia
Lee Trevino was the first golfer to win the U.S. Open, Canadian Open and British Open in the same year. Trevino did so in 1971. Only Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat since.
Lee Trevino Biography
Lee Trevino rose up from a hardscrabble youth to become one of the greatest golfers of his time, or any time. He did it by hitting millions of golf balls, and he did it with an on-course smile and a wit rarely matched in golf history.
Trevino was born into poverty and never knew his father. He was raised by his mother and his grandfather, a gravedigger. Lee began working at a very early age, toiling in the Texas cotton fields as young as age 5.
But when an uncle gave him a rusty golf club and a few beat-up balls, the young Trevino found his calling. He began caddying at age eight, sometimes attending school but more often working or practicing golf.
At age 17, Trevino joined the Marines and served four years. Following his discharge, he returned to golf, becoming a club pro in 1960. While at an El Paso club in the mid-1960s, the then-unknown Trevino battled the already famous Ray Floyd over three titanic days in one of the most legendary gambling matches in golf history. They came out even.
Trevino found his way onto the PGA Tour in 1967, and quickly established himself as one of the best. He won the 1968 U.S. Open, and from then until around 1974 was a dominant force. He won all but one of his six majors during that span, and four scoring titles. His 1971 U.S. Open victory is his best-known, as he defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff for the win. Trevino nipped Nicklaus again at the 1972 British Open, the second of his back-to-back wins there.
Trevino was nearly killed when he was struck by lightning during a tournament in 1975. The injuries he suffered lingered, including back problems, but he recovered to win another Vardon Trophy in 1980. The 1984 PGA Championship was his final major and final PGA Tour victory.
Trevino was just as good on the Champions Tour, winning 29 times - the same number of wins he had on the PGA Tour and the second-most in the history of the senior tour.
Trevino is considered one of the best ballstrikers, and one of the most creative ballstrikers, the game has ever seen. He aligned left of his target and faded the ball, and was amazingly consistent at placing the ball right where he wanted it.
Lee Trevino was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
Here is the list of golf tournaments won by Lee Trevino on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. He won 29 times on each tour.
Trevino’s PGA Tour Victories
1968U.S. OpenHawaiian Open
1969Tucson Open Invitational
1970Tuscon Open InvitationalNational Airlines Open Invitational
1971Tallahassee Open InvitationalDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicU.S. OpenCanadian OpenBritish OpenSahara Invitational
1972Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicBritish OpenGreater Hartford Open InvitationalGreater St. Louis Golf Classic
1973Jackie Gleason Inverrary-National Airlines ClassicDoral-Eastern Open
1974Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalPGA Championship
1975Florida Citrus Open
1976Colonial National Invitation
1977Canadian Open
1978Colonial National Invitation
1979Canadian Open
1980Tournament Players ChampionshipDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicSan Antonio Texas Open
1981MONY Tournament of Champions
1984PGA Championship
Trevino’s Champions Tour Wins
1990Royal Caribbean ClassicAetna ChallengeVintage Chrysler InvitationalDoug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity ClassicNYNEX CommemorativeU.S. Senior OpenTransamerica Senior Golf Championship
1991Aetna ChallengeVantage at The DominionSunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic
1992Vantage at The DominionThe TraditionPGA Seniors ChampionshipLas Vegas Senior ClassicBell Atlantic Classic
1993Cadillac NFL Golf ClassicNationwide ChampionshipVantage Championship
1994Royal Caribbean ClassicPGA Seniors ChampionshipPaineWebber InvitationalBell Atlantic ClassicBellSouth Senior Classic at OprylandNorthville Long Island Classic
1995Northville Long Island ClassicThe Transamerica
1996Emerald Coast Classic
1998Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000Cadillac NFL Classic
Lee Trevino was one of the other greats of the Jack Nicklaus era in PGA Tour history, a 6-time major champion whose career was interrupted by injuries suffered after he was struck by lightning. Despite that, Trevino’s achievements place him among the game’s greats.
Date of birth: Dec. 1, 1939Place of birth: Dallas, TexasNickname: Merry Mex
Tour Victories
- PGA Tour: 29 (view list)Champions Tour: 29 (view list)
Major Championships
6
- U.S. Open: 1968, 1971
- British Open: 1971, 1972
- PGA Championship: 1974, 1984
Awards and Honors
- Member, World Golf Hall of Fame
- PGA Tour money leader, 1970
- PGA Vardon Trophy winner (low scoring average), 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980
- PGA Tour Player of the Year, 1971
- Member, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981
- Captain, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1985
Famous Quotations
• Lee Trevino: “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.”
• Lee Trevino: “There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.”
• Lee Trevino: “You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”
More Lee Trevino Quotes
Trivia
Lee Trevino was the first golfer to win the U.S. Open, Canadian Open and British Open in the same year. Trevino did so in 1971. Only Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat since.
Lee Trevino Biography
Lee Trevino rose up from a hardscrabble youth to become one of the greatest golfers of his time, or any time. He did it by hitting millions of golf balls, and he did it with an on-course smile and a wit rarely matched in golf history.
Trevino was born into poverty and never knew his father. He was raised by his mother and his grandfather, a gravedigger. Lee began working at a very early age, toiling in the Texas cotton fields as young as age 5.
But when an uncle gave him a rusty golf club and a few beat-up balls, the young Trevino found his calling. He began caddying at age eight, sometimes attending school but more often working or practicing golf.
At age 17, Trevino joined the Marines and served four years. Following his discharge, he returned to golf, becoming a club pro in 1960. While at an El Paso club in the mid-1960s, the then-unknown Trevino battled the already famous Ray Floyd over three titanic days in one of the most legendary gambling matches in golf history. They came out even.
Trevino found his way onto the PGA Tour in 1967, and quickly established himself as one of the best. He won the 1968 U.S. Open, and from then until around 1974 was a dominant force. He won all but one of his six majors during that span, and four scoring titles. His 1971 U.S. Open victory is his best-known, as he defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff for the win. Trevino nipped Nicklaus again at the 1972 British Open, the second of his back-to-back wins there.
Trevino was nearly killed when he was struck by lightning during a tournament in 1975. The injuries he suffered lingered, including back problems, but he recovered to win another Vardon Trophy in 1980. The 1984 PGA Championship was his final major and final PGA Tour victory.
Trevino was just as good on the Champions Tour, winning 29 times - the same number of wins he had on the PGA Tour and the second-most in the history of the senior tour.
Trevino is considered one of the best ballstrikers, and one of the most creative ballstrikers, the game has ever seen. He aligned left of his target and faded the ball, and was amazingly consistent at placing the ball right where he wanted it.
Lee Trevino was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
Here is the list of golf tournaments won by Lee Trevino on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. He won 29 times on each tour.
Trevino’s PGA Tour Victories
1968U.S. OpenHawaiian Open
1969Tucson Open Invitational
1970Tuscon Open InvitationalNational Airlines Open Invitational
1971Tallahassee Open InvitationalDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicU.S. OpenCanadian OpenBritish OpenSahara Invitational
1972Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicBritish OpenGreater Hartford Open InvitationalGreater St. Louis Golf Classic
1973Jackie Gleason Inverrary-National Airlines ClassicDoral-Eastern Open
1974Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalPGA Championship
1975Florida Citrus Open
1976Colonial National Invitation
1977Canadian Open
1978Colonial National Invitation
1979Canadian Open
1980Tournament Players ChampionshipDanny Thomas Memphis ClassicSan Antonio Texas Open
1981MONY Tournament of Champions
1984PGA Championship
Trevino’s Champions Tour Wins
1990Royal Caribbean ClassicAetna ChallengeVintage Chrysler InvitationalDoug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity ClassicNYNEX CommemorativeU.S. Senior OpenTransamerica Senior Golf Championship
1991Aetna ChallengeVantage at The DominionSunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic
1992Vantage at The DominionThe TraditionPGA Seniors ChampionshipLas Vegas Senior ClassicBell Atlantic Classic
1993Cadillac NFL Golf ClassicNationwide ChampionshipVantage Championship
1994Royal Caribbean ClassicPGA Seniors ChampionshipPaineWebber InvitationalBell Atlantic ClassicBellSouth Senior Classic at OprylandNorthville Long Island Classic
1995Northville Long Island ClassicThe Transamerica
1996Emerald Coast Classic
1998Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000Cadillac NFL Classic
