Lee Trevino Quotes & Sayings

Putts get real difficult the day they hand out the money. — Lee Trevino

Caddies are a breed of their own. If you shoot 66, they say, "Man, we shot 66!" But go out and shoot 77, and they say "Hell, he shot 77!" — Lee Trevino

It's the most fun I've had with my clothes on. — Lee Trevino

I still swing the way I used to, but when I look up the ball is going in a different direction. — Lee Trevino

Pressure is trying to make a putt for a $10 bet with only $5 in your pocket. — Lee Trevino

One of the nice things about the Senior Tour is that we can take a cart and cooler. If your game is not going well, you can always have a picnic. — Lee Trevino

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. — Lee Trevino

My doctor told me my jogging could add years to my life. — Lee Trevino

If you've ever driven across Texas, you know how different one area of the state can be from another. Take El Paso. It looks as much like Dallas as I look like Jack Nicklaus — Lee Trevino

I think a lot of Jim Thorpe, the Olympian, and his accomplishments. — Lee Trevino

When you're poor, you know nothing about the future, you know nothing about the world, nothing that goes on outside 300 yards around you. — Lee Trevino

If I could do anything over, I'd have spent more time with my first set of children. I would have taken more quality time with them, for sure. — Lee Trevino

I met Jesse Owens once. He was a remarkable individual, and I have tremendous respect for what he did in the Olympics under the circumstances. — Lee Trevino

I always loved hitting a low fade to a back-right pin with the wind howling from the right. Not many guys could get it close in that situation, because they kept it low by just putting the ball back in their stance. You see, playing the ball back turns you into a one-trick pony - you can only hit hooks. — Lee Trevino

Winning isn't everything. It's the money you make doing it that's everything. — Lee Trevino

Living in Dallas, I root for the Mavericks and the Stars and the Cowboys, but I've always pulled for the Chicago Cubs. I enjoy watching them play. — Lee Trevino

In case of a thunderstorm, stand in the middle of the fairway and hold up a one iron. Not even God can hit a one iron. — Lee Trevino

My divorce came to me as a complete surprise. That's what happens when you haven't been home in eighteen years. — Lee Trevino

I will fall in love with any golf course that you have to drive the ball straight. You understand what I'm saying? That's my advantage. My advantage wasn't putting. In fact, I wasn't even a great putter or a good putter. — Lee Trevino

Actually, my plan was to be 20-under par after two days but it didn't work — Lee Trevino

You can talk to a fade but a hook won't listen. — Lee Trevino

Show me a golfer who doesn't have a mean streak, and I'll show you a weak competitor. — Lee Trevino

I never played much golf as a kid. I caddied quite a bit but never got serious into golf until about age 15. — Lee Trevino

If Jack Nicklaus had to play my tee shots, he couldn't break 80. He'd be a pharmacist with a string of drugstores in Ohio. — Lee Trevino

There is no such thing as natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls. — Lee Trevino

All my life I had a rapport with black caddies. — Lee Trevino

Grizzly Adams did have a beard — Lee Trevino

Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe. — Lee Trevino

My wife doesn't care what I do when I'm away, as long as I don't have a good time. — Lee Trevino

There is no such thing as a natural golfer but you become one by hitting thousands of balls — Lee Trevino

We all choke, and the man who says he doesn't choke is lying like hell. — Lee Trevino

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

I use an Arnold Palmer putter that was probably built back in 1954. — Lee Trevino

A rough should have high grass. When you go bowling they don't give you anything for landing in the gutter, do they? — Lee Trevino

99% of the putts that are short don't go in the hole — Lee Trevino

You have to understand, I don't play golf for fun. It's my business. When the mailman starts delivering mail on his off day, that's when I'll start playing golf for the hell of it. I like to play in tournaments. There are many great courses around the world that I have never played that are next door to tournaments. I have not played them because I don't play for fun. — Lee Trevino

You don't know what pressure is until you play for five bucks with only two bucks in your pocket. — Lee Trevino

Jack Nicklaus liked to curve the ball by opening or closing the clubface at address. I never felt I was good enough to do it his way. I didn't like changing my swing path, either, which some guys do. — Lee Trevino

You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work. — Lee Trevino

Yes, I think I have the best swing on the Tour. Why have scores comedown in the last ten years? Partly because they are imitating me. — Lee Trevino

No one who ever had lessons would have a swing like mine. — Lee Trevino

Somewhere along the line I'll be recognized as one of the top players in the Nicklaus era. That's all I want to be remembered for. — Lee Trevino

When you really deep down look at it, we go to bed every night, get up every morning, stay here for 70 or 80 years, and then we die. — Lee Trevino

His nerve, his memory, and I can't remember the third thing. — Lee Trevino

Sure, I've felt racism. I think everybody has prejudice. When I was growing up, the dark Mexican kids weren't allowed in the public swimming pool in Dallas. My light-skinned friend got in, and he laughed at us. It didn't seem like a big deal, because we didn't know any different. So I never ran into anything that actually scarred me. — Lee Trevino

When it comes to the game of life, I figure I've played the whole course. — Lee Trevino

I'm actually a very quiet person off the golf course. I talk 150 miles per hour when I'm at the course, but when in private I very seldom ever open my mouth. — Lee Trevino

Nobody but you and your caddie care what you do out there, and if your caddie is betting against you, he doesn't care, either. — Lee Trevino

I've seen enough crazy shots to know they happen in the best of families. — Lee Trevino

I may buy the Alamo and give it back to Mexico. — Lee Trevino

You can't teach passion. You can teach everything else. — Lee Trevino

I'm really going to do my homework. I'm going to be down there on the practice tee finding out if a guy's wife beat him up the night before, important stuff like that. Stuff that people want to know. — Lee Trevino

Arnie has more people watching him park the car than we do out on the course. — Lee Trevino

I adore the game of golf. I won't ever retire. — Lee Trevino

Just remember, somewhere there's some guy who's tired of putting up with her crap — Lee Trevino

I'm a golfaholic. And all the counseling in the world wouldn't help me. — Lee Trevino

I keep lot of my opinions to myself. — Lee Trevino

Columbus went around the world in 1492. That isn't a lot of strokes when you consider the course. — Lee Trevino

Chipping and putting for par is like a dog chasing cars, he won't be doing it for very long. — Lee Trevino

I thought I'd blown it at the 17th when I drove into a trap. God is a Mexican. — Lee Trevino

I never think of yesterday. Can't do anything about it. — Lee Trevino

If your concentration is getting bad, take up bass fishing. It will really improve your ability to focus. If you aren't ready when that fish hits, you can't set the hook. — Lee Trevino

I'm not saying my golf game went bad, but if I grew tomatoes, they'd come up sliced. — Lee Trevino

How can they beat me? I've been struck by lightning, had two back operations, and been divorced twice. — Lee Trevino

They say I'm famous for my chip shots. Sure, when I hit 'em right, they land just so, like a butterfly with sore feet. — Lee Trevino

If it wasn't for golf, I don't know what I'd be doing. If my IQ had been two points lower, I'd have been a plant somewhere. — Lee Trevino

Only bad golfers are lucky. They're the ones bouncing balls off trees, curbs, turtles and cars. Good golfers have bad luck. When you hit the ball straight, a funny bounce is bound to be unlucky. — Lee Trevino

I'm going to win so much money this year, my caddie will make the top twenty money winner's list. — Lee Trevino

Chi Chi Rodriguez had as good a pair of hands as anybody I ever saw, and more shots than you can imagine. But Chi Chi had a habit of turning simple shots into difficult ones. — Lee Trevino

I've played golf with three U.S presidents. — Lee Trevino

Pressure is playing for ten dollars when you don't have a dime in your pocket. — Lee Trevino

You're Mexican until you make money and then you're Spanish. — Lee Trevino

Seve Ballesteros was the best trouble-shot player who ever lived. It didn't matter how far in the woods you put that guy, he'd find a way to get out. But Seve inadvertently put a lot of big numbers on the scorecards of average players, because he inspired them to take dumb chances. — Lee Trevino

There are two things that won't last long in this world, and that's dogs chasing cars and pros putting for pars. — Lee Trevino

I believe in reincarnation. In my last life I was a peasant. Next time around, I'd like to be an eagle. Who hasn't dreamed they could fly? They're a protected species, too. — Lee Trevino

Green synthetic practice mats are the worst thing for your golf game that I know of. You can hit six inches behind the ball and not even know it, because the ball still gets airborne. Practice nets are awful, too. Swing a weighted club instead. — Lee Trevino

I love Merion and I don't even know her last name. — Lee Trevino

I stay away from the telephone if at all possible. — Lee Trevino

My family was so poor the lady next door gave birth to me. — Lee Trevino

If God wanted you to putt cross-handed, he would have made your left arm longer. — Lee Trevino

I'm not scared of very much. I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years. — Lee Trevino

I'm hitting the driver so good I gotta dial the operator for long distance after I hit it. — Lee Trevino

I still sweat. My guts are still grinding out there. Sometimes I have enough cotton in my mouth to knit a sweater. — Lee Trevino

I have an orthopedic pillow that's made out of a sponge material. I have a plate in my throat, and I have to be careful or I could end up with a bad neck in the morning. That pillow is a must everywhere I go. — Lee Trevino

I'm not a real smart guy. But I've got enough brains to realize that when I'm 60 years old and play a sport, that it's downhill. — Lee Trevino

My swing is so bad I look like a caveman killing his lunch. — Lee Trevino

I got no pride on the hole. It's a par-5 and I play it that way. A four is a birdie. — Lee Trevino

I remember the first time going to St. Jude. I didn't like going there because the children were ill, and it just broke my heart. It makes you test your religion when you see something like that. But the Lord doesn't want just old people. You know, He wants some young people, too, and good people. He takes care of them. He takes care of them. — Lee Trevino

I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. — Lee Trevino

My point is, there's no sense trying to squeeze something out of your swing if you can let your clubs do the shotmaking for you. — Lee Trevino

Two things that are not long for this world: dogs that chase cars and professional golfers who putt for pars. — Lee Trevino

Michael Jordan was a tremendous basketball player. — Lee Trevino

Who can say I have a bad swing? The only thing that matters in golf is the score you put on the board. You don't have to look pretty out there, you have to win. Look at my record and tell me who has a better swing than mine. — Lee Trevino

Every golfer should come to the first tee with fourteen clubs, a dozen balls, a handful of tees, and at least one great golf story — Lee Trevino

I didn't want to change the name on the towels. — Lee Trevino

I'm not out there just to be dancing around. I expect to win every time I tee up. — Lee Trevino

I keep lot of my opinions to myself. My grandfather, who was a gravedigger, told me one day, 'Son, the next time you go by the cemetery, remember that a third of the people are in there because they got into other people's business.' — Lee Trevino

I'm in the woods so much I can tell you which plants are edible. — Lee Trevino

Golf isn't just my business, it's my hobby. — Lee Trevino

The most interesting guy I've ever played with was King Hassan of Morocco. I went over there on a trip in the early 1970s, and the King and I played five holes. I've never been that nervous in my life. — Lee Trevino