Lee Trevino: The Merry Mex and Six Major Championships
Lee Trevino is the most unlikely major champion in the history of professional golf and one of its most beloved figures. A Mexican-American kid who grew up in a farmhouse without running water near Dallas, who taught himself to play golf by hitting balls in a cow pasture, who was hustling money games as a teenager and had never heard of Augusta National when he turned professional at 25 — Trevino's ascent to six major championships and world number one was one of sport's great improbable stories and one of its most entertaining ones, because Trevino played the game as if he had never been told it was supposed to be difficult.
The Farmhouse and the Cow Pasture
Lee Buck Trevino was born December 1, 1939, in Dallas, Texas. He and his mother and grandfather lived in a farmhouse without plumbing or electricity near Garland, Texas, that happened to sit adjacent to a golf course — Glen Lakes Country Club — whose fairways and rough became Trevino's primary environment from childhood. He caddied as a boy, learned the game by watching and imitating the members he looped for, and developed a self-taught swing that violated virtually every principle being taught by every golf instructor of the era.
The swing was closed-faced, low-handed, and produced a powerful left-to-right fade that hit fairways with the reliability of a machine. Trevino never bothered to correct it because it worked, and when he eventually had enough money and access to consult proper instructors, he concluded that anyone who tried to change a swing producing those results was not paying attention to the right information.
He served in the Marines from 1956 to 1960, where he played golf for the military and sharpened his game against serious competition. He spent his early twenties working as an assistant professional at various Texas clubs, hustling money games on the side, and gradually building the competitive record that earned him a PGA Tour card in 1967.
The 1968 U.S. Open: The Announcement
Trevino won the 1968 U.S. Open at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, becoming the first player in U.S. Open history to complete all four rounds under par. He led wire to wire and won by four shots with a score of 275. He was 28 years old and had been on Tour for less than a year. Golf had not seen him coming.
His victory attracted immediate attention as much for his personality as his play. He was funny, self-deprecating, garrulous, and apparently incapable of taking the solemnity of major championship golf entirely seriously. Where Jack Nicklaus was a study in concentration and Arnold Palmer was charismatic gravity, Trevino was stand-up comedy. He cracked jokes on the tee. He talked to the gallery as if they were friends. He pulled rubber snakes on playing partners during tense moments. The golf world had never produced anyone quite like him and embraced the novelty with genuine affection.
The Muirfield Miracle and Back-to-Back Opens
Trevino's 1971 season is one of the most remarkable in professional golf history. He won the U.S. Open at Merion in a playoff against Jack Nicklaus. Then, within a month, he won The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, becoming one of the few players to win both Opens in the same year. The following year at Muirfield, he chipped in from off the green on the 71st hole against Tony Jacklin to make birdie when a bogey seemed inevitable, won the championship, and in the process ended Jacklin's career momentum in a way that Jacklin himself has acknowledged took years to overcome.
The back-to-back Opens (1971-72) are the centerpiece of a six-major career that also included PGA Championship victories in 1974 and 1984. The 1984 PGA Championship, won at Shoal Creek at age 44, demonstrated that Trevino's game had aged with unusual grace, the self-taught swing producing its reliable fade long after contemporaries had retired.
Struck by Lightning
In June 1975, Trevino, Jerry Heard, and Bobby Nichols were struck by lightning during a weather delay at the Western Open at Butler National Golf Club in Illinois. Trevino suffered spinal damage that required surgery and resulted in chronic back pain that affected his game for years afterward. He continued competing and won the 1984 PGA Championship nearly a decade after the incident, but the lightning strike marked the end of his period of dominant championship golf.
Personality and Legacy
Lee Trevino's legacy in professional golf extends beyond his six majors to his role as a representative for Mexican-American and working-class golfers in a sport that had been largely the preserve of country club culture. He grew up without access to the institutional golf world and made himself world-class through talent, work, and the competitive education of money games — the original golf school, available to anyone with a decent swing and the nerve to bet on it.
His humor was never a performance or a marketing strategy; it was simply who he was on and off the golf course. His self-deprecating references to his own lack of formal education and his blue-collar origins connected him to fans who saw in him someone who had succeeded on talent and guts rather than background and resources.
FAQs About Lee Trevino
How many major championships did Lee Trevino win? Trevino won six major championships: 2 U.S. Opens (1968, 1971), 2 Open Championships (1971, 1972), and 2 PGA Championships (1974, 1984).
Why is Lee Trevino called the Merry Mex? The nickname reflects both his Mexican-American heritage and his reputation as one of professional golf's most entertaining and good-humored personalities.
Was Lee Trevino struck by lightning? Yes, Trevino and two other players were struck by lightning during the 1975 Western Open. He suffered back injuries that affected him for years but continued playing competitive golf and won the 1984 PGA Championship.