A professional-am spherical with Lee Trevino has a bit of little bit of the whole lot.
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ORLANDO — With a heat wind whipping by the PNC Championship this week, listening in on gamers’ conversations is a problem. But as followers at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club lean in over the ropes, hoping to listen to a morsel of one thing — something — from the golf legends within the subject, one voice cuts by the gusts: Lee Trevino’s.
If most individuals hover at an working quantity of 6 out of 10, Trevino cruises at a 9. You can hear him from the inexperienced when he’s teeing off on a par 3. You can hear him from the subsequent fairway over, barking at Charlie Woods. This is a part of the cope with the Merry Mex or Supermex, whichever of his nicknames you like. When Trevino is on a golf course, Trevino is on, interval. He’s flamboyant, energetic, endlessly entertaining and…by some means additionally spry. The definition of 84 years younger.
Golf’s biggest showman arrived on the tenth tee throughout Friday’s pro-am by docking his cart inches from the tee field markers, hopping out and telling 100 or so spectators, Don’t fear, it’s okay — Arnold Palmer used to park between the markers. Trevino’s parking job was much more respectable.
When Trevino striped a drive, he posed in silence, watching it, holding for impact, then saying, “People take vacations that are shorter than that!”
Walk with Trevino and also you’ll study the person has a line for…the whole lot.
“Can we get a picture?” is met with “I don’t have any!” He has performed in 1000’s of pro-ams like this one. But like any nice entertainer, you are feeling like what he’s saying to you is the primary time he’s ever stated it. Walking off the tenth inexperienced, Trevino had his staff in stitches with, “I can’t wait to get up in the morning to hear what I have to say.” That’s considered one of his go-tos.
“He’s a walking joke machine,” stated James Saulez, one of many amateurs enjoying alongside. “You just crank him and he goes.”
Saulez wasn’t flawed. Trevino is like a wind-up toy, spinning round from cart to inexperienced to tee. There isn’t sufficient house on this web site to incorporate each quip, however simply know if his strains are good enough to get Tiger, Rory and Jack howling, they’ll be adequate for you. Thankfully for the pro-am contributors, who pay good cash for these tee occasions, comedy is just half of the Trevino Show. The different half is a enjoying lesson from a {golfing} wizard.
On Friday, Trevino performed from tee bins forward of the amateurs in his group, which, for contemporary execs could be an apparent signal to their beginner companions to thoughts their very own enterprise. But there Trevino was, backing off his companions for a fast tip on practically each gap.
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“Are you killing the fly or catching the fly?” he stated to a gaggle standing by the eleventh tee. “Golf is about catching the fly.”
He had our consideration.
He meant in case your golf ball was a fly on a desk, you wouldn’t need to kill it, as many amateurs are inclined to do. Rather, you’d attempt to sweep your hand (or golf membership) and catch the fly. Trevino put his first pupil by an intensive swing train, holding up all the group, slowing down the tempo of play. The payoff? A smashed tee ball that cut up the green. Trevino bat-flipped his driver to the facet, saying, “Gimme five, goddammit. Better yet gimme a hug.” How may you not run into these outstretched arms?
Trevino is the oldest participant within the subject this week by 18 years, and he’s not shy about his age. The solely different competitor enjoying from his tees is Annika Sorenstam’s 12-year-old son, Will McGee. From 5,500 yards, Trevino figures he and his son Daniel can contend if he putts nicely. That a lot was clear Friday afternoon. The par-3 seventeenth gap measured simply 109 yards for the elder Trevino. Nothing greater than a spot wedge, pitching wedge at most, his caddie thought. Trevino thought in any other case, electing for a back-of-his-stance, abbreviated 9-iron— the type of shot solely a golfer’s golfer would think about. The ball flew low and drew barely into the crosswind, bounding in need of the inexperienced however then rolling on to it, stopping about 30 ft from the pin. The better of the group by far.
“Yeah, that’s a trick shot,” Trevino stated after the had applause died down. Once once more, he was speaking to his caddie however loudly sufficient for anybody inside 50 ft to listen to.
“I told my son Daniel when I was working with him one time, chipping. I said, ‘Listen, I want you to go by the 7-Eleven and get a box of cereal. Get a box of cereal called Trix.’ I said, ‘I want you to empty the box and count ’em. Whatever number you come up with, that’s how many tricks I got. When it comes to hitting that ball, that’s how many tricks I got.’”
For newcomers to the Trevino Experience, it might take some time to tire of this present. Trevino isn’t in entrance of cameras or journalists usually, however each time he’s it feels there’s a narrative to inform. Of late, he’s been on a little bit of podcast tour, sharing hours of tales with No Laying Up and GOLF’s Subpar. Even after indexing all that banter, although, by some means the in-person Trevino by no means feels drained. Spectators reached over the ropes to inform the amateurs how fortunate they had been, with one suggesting, “You should have to pay double to play with him.”
After Trevino’s spherical, I chased him right down to ask what he will get out of it, understanding that the pro-am train is commonly a one-way road of giving far more than receiving.
“I enjoy being around people, and when I’m around people I want to entertain them,” he stated.
“You’re really good at it,” I stated.
“Yeah, that’s why I get the big bucks when I do the dinners,” he stated with a chuckle.
With that, he was off to lunch.
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