“I Represent the Public Golf Courses, the Working Man, the Blue Collar Worker”: Celebrating Golf Legend Lee Trevino on the 35th anniversary of his final major win

Over at The Ringer I wrote about one of my favorite ever athletes, the great golfer Lee Trevino, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of his final major championship. Includes wonderful stories from Tom Watson, Gary Player and other giants of the sport! Check it out if you are so inclined.

Trevino’s story is about a lot of things: the collision of pre-modern technology and postmodern brand management; the growth of a sport that began as a backwater amusement and evolved into a signifier of upper-tier status. But inevitably one of the crucial themes of his story is social mobility. His default setting has always been to diffuse the pain of the discrimination and poverty he faced early in his life with humor and hard work, but that doesn’t mean the pain wasn’t there. Trevino’s capacity to integrate the self-made ethos of his early struggles with a notoriety that would cause him to rub shoulders with superstar celebrities and influential politicians is nearly as remarkable as his accomplishments on the course.