When I came in to golf publishing officially, some 12 years ago, one of the first things I did was unearth some research on magazine cover images.
Whom do you make your main cover image of if you want to guarantee sales of your magazine?
Trevino - cover story .
|
Today only Tiger Woods offering words of wisdom will boost sales by any significant margin, plus the words 'Slice,' How to hit it further' and 'the inevitable four-letter words 'Free golf'!
Back in 1990 it was Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo - and one other, Lee Buck Trevino.
Even though he hadn't won a major - the USPGA in 1984 - for six years - SuperMex was still the personality with whom most golf fanatics wanted to relate. We hung on his every word, his antics, his effortless ability to shape his shots, high, low, left, right.
He had an up-and-under swing which reminded us of the hackers on the first tee at our local municipal course and the guy who held court in the clubhouse bar every Sunday lunchtime, while slowly getting pickled on Ruddles County.
He was certainly my hero and played the game in a flamboyant, colourful style that cocked a snook at the establishment. How he would have loved to have added a US Masters jacket to the pair of Opens, US Opens and US PGA titles he won between 1968 and 1984.
The Merry Mexican - how politically incorrect that innocent phrase is today - would laugh at his own jokes and wisecracks but we'd laughed along with him. And though John Daly has maybe replaced him with his ball striking he could never match his personality.
How good it was to see Trevino leaving even Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia speechless during his appearance alongside the tired, weary and perspiring Jack Nicklaus in the Battle of the Bighorn made-for-Tv golf match.
Trevino - terrific ball-striker.
|
In 1972, Trevino ended Nicklaus' bid to collect the first three majors of the year, when he beat him by one shot at Muirfield.
I saw him a year later when he brought the Claret Jug to Ely City in Cambridgeshire for an exhibition match with Hugh Baiocchi, the Tour professional. Touching the famous trophy and watching him hit 4-irons into the baseball catching mit held by his caddie Willie Aitchison 200 yards up the practice fairway, inspired me and many others.
In his prime he'd have made Tiger fight for every last dollar of a winner's cheque and be laughing all the way to the bank.
Now 62, he's lost none of his charisma and still plays as fast as he talks. And there's no doubt he would have talked Tiger out of a few trophies and green jackets.
Imagine them paired together in the final round of this year's US Masters at Augusta, no way he would have capitulated as Mickelson, Goosen and Els did.
He'd have been teasing the young American: "Hey Tiger, c'mon give us your best shot and I'll show you what I can do."
And when Tiger responded he'd have called his own counter-attack in advance.
"Watch this son, I'll cut this baby up there and watch it feed down that slippery ol' greens…There, how d'ya like that?"
So it was good to learn of an interview Trevino gave a few days ago on his thoughts about golf in general and Tiger in particular.
Here's a taster...
Some senior legends like you, Nicklaus and Palmer took some shots at the crop of Tiger-chasers, implying that these guys didn't have enough spine to challenge Woods.
No, no. I was guilty by association. I never said a word. That was Gary Player, Arnold and Jack talking about the players not stepping up to the plate. I don't agree. What you have is a lot of guys out there who have talent, but they don't put the time in that Tiger does. When Tiger Woods works as hard as he does on his game, and you're already the strongest and most talented, nobody is going to get close to you. If Nicklaus had put as much time in as Tiger does (he spent 60 percent of his time with his family and was a great dad) he would have won 40 majors. All Tiger wants is to play golf and win tournaments. Phil Mickelson is as talented as Tiger but with a wife and two kids doesn't spend 100 percent of his time at it.
Why don't you spend more time as a commentator?
I did it for NBC from 1981-89 and they wanted me for the Senior Tour because I'm only playing 15 tournaments. But, at 62, I want to spend more time with my family. I have a 9-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. It's time to enjoy myself now and do nothing.
Would you let either of your daughters marry a golf pro?
Oh, yeah. I might as well support them, too!
Top Flite are having you endorse a new golf ball.
I told the guys at Spalding, "This might not be the best time to pitch this ball. Sergio and Tiger will be out-driving me by 100 yards."
What happened to Super Mex? It must be politically incorrect to call you that. We haven't heard that nickname in years.
We're too soft now. We can't beat anybody. I play in golf tournaments now and there's only one other Mexican playing. I just look at the board to see if I'm low Mexican for the week.
Fans used to be able to attend a PGA Tour event and identify players from 100 yards away because of their unique swings. They can't now.
There are too many gurus out there now. Players all look the same to me. It would be hard to do television now. I used to do television before and not even need the list of tee times and pairings. You could tell who all the guys were the way they swung the golf club. Today the instruction is much better. It's big business. Coaches didn't used to take it as a job, but more as a hobby. Now they have doctors travelling with them. They've got a kid down there in Florida who hasn't made a cut yet, and he's got about 15 people in his entourage. He's got a guy to tell him how to treat the press, a sports psychologist, everything.
You're referring to Ty Tryon, the 18-year-old from Orlando.
The kid looks very promising. He might have done this a little too early, though. We said the same thing about Justin Rose after he turned pro after the British Open four years ago. He was 17 years old, turned pro, and the next thing you know, he didn't make a cut for 21 tournaments. This year he's won four tournaments. So, you can't just say, 'No.' You can't judge anybody, but this kid probably should have waited a little bit, yeah.
Name your all-time dream foursome if you were playing mainly for laughs.
It would be Chi-Chi Rodriguez, Fuzzy Zoeller and probably Arnold Palmer. I love Arnold. He is a great man. He's a funny guy, a character.
Do you ever wish that you'd reached your competitive peak in this era?
You know what? I'd probably be caddying for one of those guys out there now and making more money than I ever have.
Who would you pay to watch play?
Tiger and Phil Mickelson. They go at it in different ways. Just the power and the whole package, they have a tremendous amount of talent.
See what I mean? Wouldn't it be great to have more characters like him playing every week? What do you think? Tell us on the Forum.
