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Lee Trevino - Joins The Seniors

In 1989 Trevino turned fifty and became eligible for the Champions Tour (previously known as the PGA Senior Tour) and joined the tour for the last event of the season. If he was a star on the PGA Tour, Trevino quickly became a superstar on the senior tour. In 1990 he was the leading money winner in all of golf, with over $1 million in single-season earnings. He won seven titles during the year, including once again beating Nicklaus, this time at the U.S. Senior Open by shooting a 67 on his final round. He was named both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.

Trevino won three tournaments in 1991 and in 1992 had five victories before injuring his thumb in June, which required surgery. Despite his shortened season, he was once again named Player of the Year and once again took home more than $1 million in winnings. Still recovering from his thumb injury, Trevino managed just three wins in 1993, but stormed back in 1994 with six victories and a career-high $1.2 million in earnings. He was named the Champion's Tour Player of the Year for the third time. The following year he became the tour's all-time winningest player after notching his twenty-five victory, a position he held until overtaken by Hale Irwin, six years his junior, who had a total of 36 Champions Tour titles by 2002.

Awards and Accomplishments

1966 Named Rookie of the Year by the Professional Golf Association (PGA)
1968 Wins U.S. Open
1970 Named Texas Professional Athlete of the Year by the Texas Sports Association
1970-74, 1980 Awarded the Vardon Trophy from the PGA five times for lowest average strokes per round by a professional golfer
1971 Wins U.S. Open; wins British Open; receives Hickok Belt for professional athlete of the year; received Gold Tee Award; named Player of the Year by PGA and Golf; named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated; named International Sports Personality of the Year by the British Broadcasting Association; named Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press; named Top Performer in Golf by Sport; named Sports Man of the Year by The Sporting News.
1972 Wins British Open
1974 Wins PGA Championship; wins World Series of Golf
1978 Inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame
1979 Inducted into the American Golf Hall of Fame
1981 Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
1984 Wins PGA Championship
1990 Wins U.S. Senior Open
1992, 1994 Wins PGA Seniors Championship

Related Biography: Golfer Hale Irwin

Hale Irwin was a two-sport athlete at the University of Colorado, winning the 1967 National Collegiate Athletic Association golf championship as well as being a two-time All-Big-8 football defensive back. His first PGA Tour victory came in 1971 when he won the Sea Pines Heritage Classic, and he had 20 tournament wins by 1994, including three majors (the U.S. Open title in 1974, 1979, and 1990).

Irwin joined the Champions Tour in 1995, finishing first in two events his rookie year and two in his sophomore year, one being the PGA Seniors Championship. By 1997 Irwin had begun his domination of the senior tour in earnest. He won an incredible nine tournaments, including his second PGA Seniors Championship, which he won for the third consecutive year in 1998. He continued to finish on top of the leader board, including wins at the 1999 Ford Senior Players Championship and at the 2000 U.S. Senior Open.

In 2001 Irwin surpassed Trevino as the winningest player on the senior tour by taking his thirtieth win. By the end of the 2002 season, he had 36 Champion Tour victories. He also set a new record for earnings, surpassing his previous record of $2.86 million with a total of $3.3 million in 2002, becoming the oldest player to win the money title.

Although he continued to win an occasional tournament during the latter part of the 1990s, Trevino's presence in the top spot of the leader board became less frequent. He captured his first victory in two years when he won the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic in 2000. He is one of only two golfers (the other is Gary Player) who has won a tournament in each of three decades. "I wouldn't still be playing if I didn't think I could still win," Trevino told Golf World after his twenty-ninth senior tour win. "If I don't think I can win, then I'll just quit. It may even happen in the middle of a round." In 2002 his best finish was a tie for ninth at the Napa Valley Championship. Despite his slide down the points and win list, Trevino remains one of the game's most popular players.

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