Needed: One More National Open Title

Lee Trevino had two U.S. Opens, two Open Championships and a Canadian Open, but he wanted one more national open to complete the set.

Nov 04, 2021

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The PGA TOUR is in Mexico for the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakopa, a tournament that debuted in 2007. Did I mention how much I'm looking forward to the Houston Open, with all its beautiful 1960s and 1970s history? It is hard to pass up the historic story from Mayakopa concerning how much to pay caddies (looking at you Matt Kuchar). Anyway, we did find a tasty morsel of a story from the 1970s concerning Mexico. Of course, it stars Lee Trevino.

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Lee Trevino Adds Another National Open Title

In one magical stretch of 21 days in the summer of 1971, Lee Trevino won three national opens. He defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff at Merion Golf Club to win the U.S. Open. He then won the Canadian Open 13 days later and followed that up by winning the Open Championship just six days later. He defended his title at the 1972 Open Championship. He won his first U.S. Open title in 1968. Still, there was one national open title that he wanted to add to his trophy case—the Mexican Open. In 1973, he would attempt to do just that.

While Trevino was of Mexican descent, he was an American through and through. He didn’t speak much Spanish or spend much time in Mexico, but he nevertheless was a sporting hero of Mexican Americans. He was given the nickname the “Merry Mex” or “Supermex” by his fellow players. He thought a Mexican Open would look good on his resume and set out to win one.

He promised that he would win the national open saying it was, “The only open I haven’t won yet”.

The Mexican Open in 1973 was held at the 6,700-yard Bellavista Club in Ciudad López Mateos, Estado de México. This was the same course where Trevino finished second in the Mexican Open in 1965. A friend from Dallas, Bill Gray, financed that trip in ‘65 to Mexico City and the second-place finish fueled dreams of championships on the Caribbean Tour.

Gray financed the foray to the Caribbean Tour which entailed long drives by the pair of friends over bumpy roads and sleeping in less than luxury accommodations. One night Gray, in a panic, woke Trevino up. A bat had landed on Gray’s sheet and he threw the sheet and the critter to the floor in the corner of the room. Trevino was sleeping with his putter (for luck). After being awoken by the racket being made by Gray and the bat, Trevino was able to swing his putter and dispense of the bat as it struggled in the sheets.

Trevino’s return to Mexico City for the Mexican Open in 1973 got off to a rocky start when he shot a 75 in the first round. He threatened to withdraw because he felt that the course setup played too short.

“It is a course for ladies,” Trevino grumbled after his round. “There’s nothing but wedges into all of the holes.”

Trevino was stretching himself thin during this time playing every tournament he could, while endorsing any product that offered to pay him and generally trying to cash in on his celebrity. It was taking a toll on him, and his moods often reflected as much. He piled up the withdrawals and left more than one angry sponsor in his wake.

In Mexico, his dark mood lifted, and he was back in good humor for the second round. He shot a seven-under-par 65 including birdies on five of the last six holes. That put him one shot behind 23-year-old Ed Byman, of Boulder, CO.

Trevino followed up with a third round 69 and then won the tournament with a closing round of 72. Victor Regalado, of Mexico, finished second, three-strokes back. The inexperienced Ed Byman finished outside the top five.

Trevino donated his entire winnings of $8,000 to charity giving half to Mrs. Maria Esther Zuno de Echevarria, the wife of the Mexican president, for child welfare programs. He gave the other half to an orphanage.

It was, after all, more about adding another national open to his list than it was about the money.

Autographed PR picture of Lee Trevino

Check out the bonus fact below for more from Trevino's Caribbean Tour adventure.

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Bonus Story

During their time on the Caribbean Tour, Gray and Trevino found themselves in more than one sticky situation. In Panama City to play the Panama Open, Trevino put on one of his best clutch performances. He shot a final round 64 to win $1,300 after Gray had a little talk with him before the round.

“I told him before he teed off, that if he ever played a hot round, make it now,” Gray recalled. “We had lost all our money in the casino, and we would’ve been busted and stuck in Panama if he hadn’t come through.”

The two continued on with the tour but wound up a few weeks later back in Panama City and they were busted again. They sold Gray’s car to get the money for plane tickets and returned to America.