Lee Trevino is asked what it’s like being Lee Trevino. His answer is gold

What is it like being Lee Trevino?

Good question. We know about the legend. His background. The wins. The majors. The shot-making. The wisdom. The words. Oh, lord, the words. Just this week, on the New Breed of Golf on Sirius XM, over just a 20-minute appearance, Trevino had some thoughts. For example, during a conversation on slow play, this was Trevino on AimPoint, the newer technique where where players straddle the line to read putts: 

“I can’t really tell you on the radio what my thoughts [are],” Trevino said. “That’s a young man’s thing. An old guy can’t do that ’cause he can’t see his feet.”

A few minutes later on the show, this was Trevino on the 60-degree wedge. 

“But the 60-degree wedge is the worst thing that ever happened to a high-handicapper, because he can’t use the 56 yet,” he said on the show. “I mean, he’s got to learn to use the 56 before he goes to a 60. I don’t know why they’re carrying a 60. They can’t use the damn thing. They’re always short with it. 

“The reason they’re short with it is, if you play with an amateur that has an eight or over, if he pulls a 60 out, he’s generally short; he’s always short. And the reason for it is because they don’t realize how much loft is on this thing and they tend to swing at it the same speed they do the 56. And it’s not going to go anywhere. I mean, it won’t go anyplace. Tight lies, now all of a sudden, now they’re getting these little — built the way that the architecture is with the greens dropping off and everything, that’s the worst club you want to use around there is the 60 because the grain’s against you. And that club is sharper; it doesn’t have as much bounce on it. The secret is to open the 56 wide open to get a little more bounce and then rotate it; close the toe a little bit.” 

And on and on. He can turn a phrase, and his stories could fill a library. Which brings us back to the question at the top: What is like being Lee Trevino? You have to figure the personal query would get a creative answer, like most everything else he’s opined on. 

And it very much was when he appeared this week on the Scoops with Danny Mac show. Here is the complete exchange, started by host Dan McLaughlin:

“What is it like being Lee Trevino?” he asked. “Because when people talk about great characters in sports, you’re one of the great characters, not only in golf, but you’re legendary across all walks of life. So when you’re walking down the street, you’re in an airport, whatever the case may be, what is it like being Lee Trevino?”

His answer started personally.  

“Well, the first thing that you do when you leave the house is you say to yourself, be nice, be nice and say hello to everybody because people are going to come and get you,” Trevino said on the show. “You can have a fork almost up to your mouth and a guy will grab your elbow and say, how you doing, nice to see you, because I’m approachable. They wouldn’t have done that to [Ben] Hogan because Hogan would have hit them with a wedge, you know what I’m saying. But they know that I’m approachable. I expect it. My wife told me once, she says when [they] quit doing it, you might as well stay home. I said, you know, you’re right, when they quit doing it. I said, you’re exactly right.”

From there, Trevino added his personal touch.  

“And I told her, I said, you know, I tell this story, I said, you know something, I said the pandemic was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he said on the show. “And they said, why. I said I put a hat on without a logo, I put a mask on, and I put sunglasses on, and I could go anywhere I wanted to go without anyone bothering me. 

“And I told her, I went to the grocery store, and I’m walking around the grocery store and a guy comes up behind me, and he said, I know who you are. He said, I recognize you. I said, I know who you are; he said, I heard you talking. And I said, oh, lord, how are you, sir? And he said, fine. He said, listen, I need a golf lesson. I said, a golf lesson? He said, yes. This is the truth.

“And I said, you need a golf lesson, huh? And he said, yes. Why would you need a golf lesson from me? I said, listen, I’m half-blind, I can’t hear very well, I’m 82 years old, I’ve got the yips, and I said, I’m hitting the ball so short that you can hear it land. And I said, if you tested my swing speed, you couldn’t get a ticket in a school zone. 

“I said, so when do you want to start this lesson? This is what I told him, yeah. 

Asked McLaughlin: “So what was his reaction when you said all that?”

“He laughed, he laughed,” Trevino said. “I said, nah, I appreciate it; thank you very much. He said, OK, OK. 

“Isn’t that crazy?”

Editor’s note: To listen to the entire interview with Trevino on the Scoops with Danny Mac show, please click here. 

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.