Lee Trevino: The Merry Mex and Six Major Championships
Lee Trevino grew up in poverty in a sharecropper's shack without electricity or plumbing near Dallas, Texas. He learned to play golf working as a caddie and hustling games for money with a taped-up Dr. Pepper bottle as his club, making shots he would have been too poor to take back. He won six major championships. He remains the most quotable personality in the history of professional golf, and his story remains one of the game's most improbable.
The Origin
Trevino was largely self-taught. His swing — a flat, looping action that looked nothing like the instructional models of his era — was built entirely around function rather than aesthetics. The ball went where he wanted it to go, and he understood his own mechanics well enough to maintain the swing under pressure without formal instruction. Golf teachers of his era couldn't explain his swing. He explained it himself: "I aim left and fade it back. I don't try to do anything else."
1971: The Greatest Month in Major Championship History
In a single month in 1971, Lee Trevino won the US Open, the Canadian Open, and the Open Championship — three national championships in four weeks. He beat Jack Nicklaus in a playoff at the US Open at Merion. He beat Nicklaus by one shot at the Canadian Open. He beat Nicklaus (and the entire field) at Royal Birkdale. No golfer before or since has won three national opens in a single month.
The Merion playoff victory was characteristic Trevino: he pulled a rubber snake from his bag before the first hole and threw it at Nicklaus. Nicklaus laughed. Trevino won the playoff 68 to 71. He was 31 years old and had been on tour for four years.
The Majors
Trevino won six major championships: two US Opens (1968, 1971), two Open Championships (1971, 1972), and two PGA Championships (1974, 1984). His 1984 PGA Championship win came at age 44 — one of the oldest major victories in the modern era before Mickelson's 2021 performance — and ended a decade in which injuries had reduced his production significantly.
The Lightning Strike
Trevino was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, an injury that required back surgery and contributed to the chronic back problems that affected his career in the late 1970s and 1980s. He continued to compete effectively on the PGA Tour and moved to the Champions Tour after turning 50, winning 29 times on the senior circuit.
The Personality
Trevino talked constantly on the golf course — to galleries, to playing partners, to himself. He told jokes during tournament rounds. He treated professional golf as entertainment as much as competition, and the galleries responded in kind. His relationship with the public was the warmest of any elite player of his era, and the directness of his class origins — he never pretended to be anything other than what he was — gave him an authenticity that country club golf culture hadn't accommodated before.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many majors did Lee Trevino win?
Lee Trevino won six major championships: two US Opens (1968, 1971), two Open Championships (1971, 1972), and two PGA Championships (1974, 1984).
Why is Lee Trevino called the Merry Mex?
Lee Trevino earned the nickname "the Merry Mex" for his humor, constant talking, and entertaining personality on the course, combined with his Mexican-American heritage. He was one of the first prominent Mexican-American players on the PGA Tour and openly celebrated that identity throughout his career.