Biography

Lee Trevino World Golf Hall of Fame: Year Inducted: 1981

Lee Trevino was the first man to ever break 70 in all four rounds of the U.S. Open (1968). All golfers are self made, but the man who made the most out of what he started with has to be Lee Trevino. Trevino rose from a three-room shack with no plumbing in east Dallas to become arguably the most consistent shotmaker the game has ever seen. Through an agile mind, a tremendous work ethic and a sense of moment that belongs to the natural performer, Trevino carved a way to the top that is unlike any other in golf history.

Starting as a caddy and coming up through the ranks of driving ranges, military golf and hustling, Trevino first burst into big-time professional golf full blown. He was a squat 5-foot-7, 180-pound ball of fire whose rapid wit made players and galleries laugh, but whose game commanded their respect. In June 1968, the still unknown 28-year-old won the U.S. Open at Oak Hill with a record-tying score of 69-68-69-69-275.

Three years later, Trevino won his second U.S. Open, this time at Merion in a classic 18-hole playoff with Jack Nicklaus. Within 20 days he added the Canadian Open and the British Open at Royal Birkdale, completing an unprecedented international sweep. The next year he won the British Open again, this time at Muirfield. His final two major championships would come in the PGA, first at Tanglewood in 1974, and finally at Shoal Creek in 1984.

Trevino was born on Dec. 1, 1939, in Garland, Texas. Reared by his mother and maternal grandfather, a gravedigger, he never knew his father. As a boy, Trevino was in the cotton fields working by the time he was five. "I thought hard work was just how life was,'' he said. His family's home was 100 yards from the seventh fairway of the Dallas Athletic Club, and by the time Trevino was eight, he was caddying. "That's where I learned my killer instinct, playing games with the caddies and betting everything I had earned that day," he wrote. He quit school in eighth grade to work at a driving range, where he would hit hundreds of balls a day.

The first complete round he ever played was at age 15 when he shot a 77 at a junior tournament. At 17, he joined the Marines and further honed his game. When he got out, he played in money games around Dallas and El Paso, one of which included his hitting the ball around a par-3 course with a Dr. Pepper bottle. "You don't know what pressure is until you play for five bucks with only two in your pocket,'' he said.

A turning point in his career came when he played at Shady Oaks in Fort Worth and saw Ben Hogan on the practice range. From that day on, Trevino honed a fade that would make him one of the most accurate players the game has ever seen. Sometimes he would yell, "Don't move, hole!'' when he'd hit an iron at the pin.

Trevino did it with a strong grip, stood with his body aligned well left of his target and essentially shoved the ball outward with a strong blocking action of his left side. British writer Leonard Crawley called it "an agrarian method," but perhaps no one has ever hit the ball as consistently solid. Trevino said, "Who knows, maybe my method is best." On and around the greens, Trevino was both deft and opportunistic.

Although he was an instant success when he joined the tour, Trevino suffered plenty more hard times. In 1975, he was nearly killed when he was hit by lightning during play at the Western Open and suffered severe back problems. He also lost two fortunes due to bad investments.

But Trevino called on the resiliency born of his beginnings. In 1980, he had one of his best years, winning the Vardon Trophy for the fifth time. His PGA victory at Shoal Creek was his crowning achievement. In all, he won 29 times on the regular tour. Later, he would equal that total on the Champions Tour.

"I've always had a tremendous amount of confidence in Lee Trevino,'' he said. "But I've always paid the price.''

Professional Majors:

U.S. Open: 1968, 1971Open Championship: 1971, 1972PGA Championship: 1974, 1984

Other Significant Victories: PGA TOUR: 23

1968: Hawaiian Open
1969: Tucson Open
1970: Tucson Open, National Airlines Open
1971: Tallahassee Open, Memphis Classic, Canadian Open, Sahara Invitational
1972: Memphis Classic, Greater Hartford Open, Greater St. Louis Classic
1973: Jackie Gleason-Inverrary, Doral Eastern Open
1974: New Orleans Open
1975: Florida Citrus Open
1976: Colonial National Invitation
1977: Canadian Open
1978: Colonial National Invitation
1979: Canadian Open
1980: Tournament Players Championship, Memphis Classic, San Antonio-Texas Open
1981: Tournament Of Champions

Champions Tour: 26


1990: Royal Caribbean Classic, Aetna Challenge, Vintage Invitational, Doug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity Classic, NYNEX Commemorative, Transamerica Senior Golf Championship
1991 Aetna Challenge, Vantage at the Dominion, Sunwest Bank/Charley Pride Senior Open, Bell Atlantic Classic
1992: Vantage at the Dominion, The Tradition, Las Vegas Senior Classic, Bell Atlantic Classic
1993: Cadillac NFL Classic, Nationwide Championship, Vantage Championship
1994: Royal Caribbean Classic, PaineWebber Invitational, Bell Atlantic Classic, BellSouth Senior Classic, Northville Long Island Classic
1995: Northville Long Island Classic, The Transamerica
1996: Emerald Coast Classic
1997: Southwestern Bell Dominion
2000: Cadillac NFL Golf Classic

Other Wins:

1974: World Series Of Golf
1975: Mexican Open
1977: Morocco Grand Prix
1978: Benson and Hedges
1978: Lancome Trophy
1979: Canadian PGA
1983: Canadian PGA
1990: U.S. Senior Open
1992: PGA Seniors' Championship, Mitsukoshi Classic
1993: Fuji Electric Grandslam
1994: PGA Seniors' Championship, American Express Grandslam
1995: Legends Of Golf with Mike Hill

Other Accomplishments:

Player of the Year: 1971
Vardon Trophy: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1980
PGA TOUR leading money winner: 1970
Ryder Cup: 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981. Captain in 1985.

References
http://www.wgv.com/hof/member.php?member=1116