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Still another test was Trevino's performance last month in the 1971 U.S. Open at the Merion Golf Club on Philadelphia's Main Line. Three strokes off the pace in the first round, Trevino then rallied to tie Jack Nicklaus after 72 holes. At the start of their 18-hole playoff, Trevino playfully tossed a rubber snake at his startled opponent. Then —smacking gum and wisecracking with the crowd—he jauntily outshot the Golden Bear by three strokes to win the Open for the second time. As Supermex put it when he accepted the trophy: "I think it was Walter Hagen who said, 'Any man can win one Open, but it takes a great player to win two.' "
Great? That Trevino undoubtedly is. The greatest? Many of the touring pros would vote for Nicklaus, who can outdrive Trevino by 30 yds. and win any tournament when he puts his total game together. Most colorful? Most popular? From the public, there is no argument. That became dramatically apparent at the recent Canadian Open in Montreal. As Arnold Palmer stepped up to the tenth tee, an official on the adjacent first tee announced: "Now on the tee, the U.S. Open champion, Senor Lee Trevino!" Just like that, several hundred spectators deserted Arnie's Army, for years pro golf's largest entourage, to join the happy, noisy throng called Lee's Fleas.
Larger than Life
Trevino rewarded his fans with a scrambling finish reminiscent of the Palmer of old. Six strokes off the pace after the first round, Lee pitched in a 105-yd. sand wedge for an eagle and holed a 35-ft. birdie putt on the final day of play to tie 47-year-old Art Wall for first place. Then, on the first hole of the sudden-death playoff, he coolly knocked in a snaking 18-ft. birdie to win the $30,000 first prize.
Golf has always had its share of distinctive, larger-than-life personalities: Terrible Tommy Bolt, the late Champagne Tony Lema, Daiquiri Doug Sanders. None of them, though, ever had Trevino's mix of fun and finesse—or his earthy, egalitarian appeal. A country-club Cantinflas, he will stick his tongue out at an errant shot, coax in a putt with a burlesque-queen bump or break into an impromptu toreador waltz with an attacking bee. Lee's Fleas delight in his wisecracks (Flea: "Nice shot!" Lee: "What did you expect from the U.S. Open champion—ground balls?"). They love his catch phrases ("Black is beautiful, but brown is cute") and his apologies for cussing ("Excuse me, lady, I thought you was a tree"). Says 1969 Masters Champion George Archer: "The tour is like a big circus that pulls into town once a year, and Lee is the ringmaster and clown rolled into one."