Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Lee Trevino booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company for booking Lee Trevino speaker appearances, autograph signing, endorsement deals or hiring Lee Trevino as a keynote speaker for your next event. Find Lee Trevino official website information, speaker fees, booking fees, costs and schedule. Golf legend, Lee Trevino is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex".

Lee 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. Trevino's childhood consisted of attending school occasionally and working to earn money for the family. At age five, he started working in the cotton fields.

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 caddy at the Dallas Athletic Club. He soon began caddying full time. Trevino had to leave school at 14 to go to work. He earned $30 a week as a caddy and a shoeshiner. He was also able to practice golf, since the caddies had three short holes behind their shack. After work, he would hit a least 300 balls. When he turned 17, he enlisted the United States Marine Corps, and served four years. Part of his time was spent playing golf with Marine Corps officers. Trevino claims being a golf partner helped earn him promotion to lance corporal.

After his discharge, Lee Trevino became a club professional in El Paso, Texas. He made extra money by gambling for stakes in head-to-head matches. He began on the PGA Tour in 1967. Playing in his second U.S. Open golf championship, he shot 283, eight shots behind champion Jack Nicklaus, and earned $6,000 for finishing fifth. He won $26,472 as a rookie, 45th on the PGA Tour money list, and was the Rookie of the Year, as named by Golf Digest magazine.

In 1968, his second year on the ciruit, Trevino won the U.S. Open at the Oak Hill Country Club, in (Rochester, New York). During his career, Trevino won 29 times on the PGA Tour, including six majors. He was at his best in the 1970s, when he was Jack Nicklaus's biggest rival. He won the money list title in 1970, with ten wins in 1971 and 1972. These included the 1971 U.S. Open, which he took in an 18-hole playoff over Jack Nicklaus. Two weeks later, he won the Canadian Open, and the following week The Open Championship, becoming the first player to win those national titles in the same year. Trevinoe was awarded the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of 1971. he also won Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" and was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

Lee Trevino was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, and suffered injuries to his spine. He underwent surgery to remove a damaged spinal disk, but back problems still hampered his play. Nevertheless, he was ranked second in McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1980, behind Tom Watson, and won his sixth PGA Championship at the age of 44. In the early 1980s, Trevino was second on the PGA Tour career money list, behind only Jack Nicklaus.

Trevino won more than 20 international and unofficial professional tournaments. He became one of the charismatic stars who helped to make a suucess of the Senior PGA Tour, now the Champions Tour. He claimed 29 wins, including four senior majors. He topped the seniors' money list in 1990 and 1992.

Throughout his career, Lee 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." At the beginning of their 1971 playoff for the U.S. Open, he threw a rubber snake at Jack Nicklaus. In his early career, much attention was given by the press to a plastic "BandAid" he wore on his forearm to a tattoo of the name of his ex-wife. He has since had this tattoo removed by a plastic surgeon using a laser technique.

After he had been 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 has also 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."

PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent PFP is a speakers bureau and booking agency providing Lee Trevino speaker, personal appearance and endorsement information. Booking Lee Trevino for appearances, as a motivational speaker, keynote speaker, for a fundraising event, grand opening, television or radio commercial, PR campaign or trade show is easy through our agency. For more info, contact Lee Trevino through PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent at 1.800.966.1380.