Yes we love Lee Westwood too, but it’ll take him a while to equal Mr. Trevino in terms of quips and general hell-lets-not-take-it-too-seriously-(but-win-anyway)-ness.
“I thought I’d blown it at the seventeenth green when I drove into a trap. God is a Mexican” (after he won the Open at Muirfield in ’72)
“How do you do, Mr. Prime Minister – ever shake hands with a Mexican before?” (on meeting Edward Heath)
“I’m a serious contender this week. How can they beat me? I’ve been struck by lightning, had two back operations and been divorced twice.” (Birkdale ’83)
“Actually, my plan was to be twenty under par after two days but it didn’t work.” (leading halfway in the Open 1984)
“My family was so poor they couldn’t afford kids. The lady next door had me.”
“College? I thought it was just somewhere guys played football…If I’d gone to college, though, I probably wouldn’t have liked it. Everybody’s too damned serious for me.”
“I am going to win so much money this year my caddie will make the top twenty money-winners’ list.”
(On Seve) “We come from the same backgrounds, more or less, where growing up next to a golf course didn’t mean a 10,000 square-foot house and gold faucets in the bathrooms.”
(On being hit by lightning) “There was a thunderous crack like cannonfire and suddenly I was lifted a foot and a half off the ground…Damn, I thought to myself, this is a helluva penalty for slow play.”
“Baseball players quit playing and they take up golf. Basketball players quit, take up golf. What are we supposed to take up when we quit?”
(About the sixth tee at Pebble Beach) “This here is a pivotal hole. If you’re five over par when you hit this tee, it’s the best place in the world to commit suicide.”
(On winning the US Masters) “I may buy the Alamo and give it back to Mexico.”
(On the World Matchplay in ’72) “I was paired with Tony Jacklin. ‘I don’t want to talk today’ he said. I said ‘That’s OK. You listen, I’ll talk.”
(On book titles) “The first one is called ‘How to Get the Most Distance Out of Your Shanks’, and the other is ‘How to Take the Correct Stance on Your Fourth Putt.”
“I’ve stopped practising, I’ve stopped worrying, and I’ve got a new wife who travels with me. If I get any happier, I’ve got to be in heaven.”
“I was trying to get so far ahead I could choke and still win.” US Open, won by four shots from Big Jack.
“You don’t know what pressure is until you play for five bucks with only two in your pocket.”
“When I retire, I’m going to get a pair of grey slacks, a white shirt, a striped tie, a blue blazer, a case of dandruff and go stand on the first tee so I can be a USGA official.”
“My wife’s got a broken wrist, we’ve got a ten-week-old baby, and our dog’s pregnant. I came out here to rest.”
“Don’t move, hole!”
“you can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen”
“There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.”
“No one who ever had lessons would have a swing like mine.”
“Yes, I think I have the best swing on the Tour. Why have scores comedown in the last ten years? Partly because they are imitating me.”
“I can’t wait to wake up in the morning to hear what I have to say!”
This man was someone who really enjoyed golf and didn’t treat it like a religion even though he earned a handsome living playing
Playing Muirifed I was reminded of his quote, “Forget the prize money give me the hay concessions”. A real knack for hitting the nail on the head.
someone with a sense of humour is always welcome in any walk of life
but on the golf course its got to be a huge plus and to retain it as a pro shows the character of the man. Good thing is you havn’t got to be a great golfer to be a great character !
It is just a pity that there are not more Lees playing golf , it makes you feel good just reading what he has said.
My club does not allow trollies on the course without hedgehog wheels during winter months. Any chance of suppling these wheels?
Mr Mantri,
You can fit Hedgehog wheels to a GoKart. We don’t supply them, but you can buy them here.