Lee Trevino

Even by his standards, Lee Trevino was in rare form yesterday afternoon, both on the course and off. First, he strung together five consecutive birdies - something he can't recall doing before in competition - on holes 8 through 12, en route to a 5- under-par 67 that gave him a one-shot lead after one round of the U.S. Senior Open at Ridgewood Country Club. Then, he came into the media tent armed with one of his trademark one- liners. "I drove it about nine miles off the par 5 (No. 14, which he parred)

A pensive Jack Nicklaus spoke yesterday of his sadness at the dispute between fellow golfing greats Gary Player and Tom Watson at Royal Birkdale this week. Nicklaus declined to take sides, but said he had never had cause to doubt either man's honesty. "Tom Watson's integrity has been above reproach ever since I've known him," Nicklaus said. "As a matter of fact, so has Gary's. That's why I say it's sad. Professional golfers don't cheat. " Player's new book, To Be the Best, reopened a dispute in which Player said Watson won two majors in 1977 - beating Nicklaus both times - with clubs that were later found to be illegal because of the size of the grooves.

To the scores of distinguished golf courses he has played in his unparalleled career, Jack Nicklaus added a new one yesterday, a course that Lee Trevino calls "a hidden jewel. " The only thing Nicklaus knew about Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern was that several friends, including Trevino, had recommended it highly. The Senior PGA tour's Bell Atlantic Classic begins there today, and Nicklaus' first round came in the tournament's pro-am. It is a hilly, tree-lined, 6,608-yard layout, not unlike Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, where Nicklaus won the former IVB Classic in 1978.

On a day when the rain-softened Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club yielded its fair share of low scores, the most relevant story to emerge from the opening round of the 13th U.S. Senior Open had to do with a guy who managed only a 2-over-par 73. Lee Trevino, who won this event in his first try in 1990 and tied for fourth place in this event last July, is playing with a painful left thumb that threatens to knock this year's obvious favorite...

At 54, Lee Trevino is enjoying life more than ever. "I'm just freewheeling," he said after his two-shot victory over Mike Hill in the PGA Senior Bell Atlantic Classic at Malvern's Chester Valley Golf Club. "I'm smelling all the flowers. I'm not layin' up anymore. If this were poker, I'd be playing with the other guys' money. I really feel that way. I'm dangerous now. So far it's already been a heckuva year. " That, it has. Consider: Trevino's victory Sunday earned him $105,000, which boosted him back into first place on the 1994 Seniors money list with $669,617, roughly $71,000 more than runner-up Ray Floyd.

How badly does Lee Trevino want to join the PGA Seniors tour? "I'll go next week if they'll let me," said the second-round co-leader of the Masters. Actually, Trevino will be eligible for the Seniors tour on Dec. 1, when he turns 50. Because he intends to be an active, competitive participant on the circuit, he plans to play from "20 to 22" PGA tour events the remainder of the year to have his game in peak form for the start of the 1990 Seniors season. "I've got golf on my mind," said Trevino, who played a tour event last week for the first time in six months.

Lee Trevino struck for a $175,000 hole in one on the 17th hole yesterday, giving him a victory and $310,000 in the fifth annual Skins Game in La Quinta, Calif. Trevino's 6-iron shot on the par-3, 167-yard hole bounced about 4 feet in front of the flag on the island green and settled into the cup. He won all $285,000 available on the second day of the tournament. Trevino, who began the back nine at PGA West with $25,000, rolled in three birdie putts: 15 feet on No. 10 for $25,000, 20 feet on No. 12 for $50,000 and 12 feet on the final hole for $35,000.

There is no rivalry between Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. Never has been. Never will be. Ever. Well, maybe there is just a little bit of a rivalry. Maybe. Nah. There is no rivalry. You can be sure of that. It's only the way these two old golfing wizards talk about the fact that there is no rivalry between them that makes you wonder whether there is one. Asked yesterday about this rivalry that does not exist, Nicklaus emitted a weary sigh. "I suppose there is - everybody says there is," he said the day before the start of the U.S. Senior Open at the Oakland Hills Country Club.

No matter where David Graham may roam, whether it be an airport, a restaurant or a golf course, he hears the comments that never cease to astonish him. After all, it has been 15 years since Graham fashioned one of the grittiest final rounds in U.S. Open history to win the national championship at Merion Golf Club, the same venue where Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino had won. The public still remembers, after all this time. "It's amazing," Graham said while taking a break in preparation for today's start of the $900,000 Bell Atlantic Classic at Chester Valley Golf Club.

The great Jay Sigel, twice the winner of the U.S. Amateur and winner of the British Amateur, played tournament golf without the cloak of amateurism for the first time yesterday. Competing here on a long and windswept golf course in a senior tour event called the Royal Caribbean Classic, Jay Sigel, professional golfer, played about as poorly as he can play, and shot 77, 6 over par. Fifty-five players posted higher scores, five tied him and nine posted lower scores. "I didn't hurt myself," he said after coming off the 18th green of an excellent public golf course, the Links at Key Biscayne.

IF YOU ARE asking yourselves, after reading the headline, "What is he doing at a golf tournament?" know that I am asking myself the same question. The reality is that our golf writer, Mike Kern, knows that I have followed everything Tiger Woods (well, everything involving golf) since I watched him win his first U.S. Amateur at Sawgrass 15 years ago. So, he volunteered me for duty this week at the AT & T National at Aronimink. In reality, I probably would have asked to be included in the coverage anyway.

No matter where David Graham may roam, whether it be an airport, a restaurant or a golf course, he hears the comments that never cease to astonish him. After all, it has been 15 years since Graham fashioned one of the grittiest final rounds in U.S. Open history to win the national championship at Merion Golf Club, the same venue where Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino had won. The public still remembers, after all this time. "It's amazing," Graham said while taking a break in preparation for today's start of the $900,000 Bell Atlantic Classic at Chester Valley Golf Club.

At 54, Lee Trevino is enjoying life more than ever. "I'm just freewheeling," he said after his two-shot victory over Mike Hill in the PGA Senior Bell Atlantic Classic at Malvern's Chester Valley Golf Club. "I'm smelling all the flowers. I'm not layin' up anymore. If this were poker, I'd be playing with the other guys' money. I really feel that way. I'm dangerous now. So far it's already been a heckuva year. " That, it has. Consider: Trevino's victory Sunday earned him $105,000, which boosted him back into first place on the 1994 Seniors money list with $669,617, roughly $71,000 more than runner-up Ray Floyd.

The great Jay Sigel, twice the winner of the U.S. Amateur and winner of the British Amateur, played tournament golf without the cloak of amateurism for the first time yesterday. Competing here on a long and windswept golf course in a senior tour event called the Royal Caribbean Classic, Jay Sigel, professional golfer, played about as poorly as he can play, and shot 77, 6 over par. Fifty-five players posted higher scores, five tied him and nine posted lower scores. "I didn't hurt myself," he said after coming off the 18th green of an excellent public golf course, the Links at Key Biscayne.

Defending champion Lee Trevino shot a 4-under-par 66 yesterday to move into a tie with Bob Charles for the second-round lead at the $650,000 Bell Atlantic Classic, then said he didn't expect to win the tournament. Huh? Trevino has forged a Hall-of-Fame career with his 42 victories on the regular and Senior PGA tours the last 25 years. At age 53, he still exudes confidence with every stride he takes. This was like hearing Charles Barkley say, "Hey, I'm not that good. " Trevino's doubts come honestly.

To the scores of distinguished golf courses he has played in his unparalleled career, Jack Nicklaus added a new one yesterday, a course that Lee Trevino calls "a hidden jewel. " The only thing Nicklaus knew about Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern was that several friends, including Trevino, had recommended it highly. The Senior PGA tour's Bell Atlantic Classic begins there today, and Nicklaus' first round came in the tournament's pro-am. It is a hilly, tree-lined, 6,608-yard layout, not unlike Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, where Nicklaus won the former IVB Classic in 1978.

If all goes according to plan, Lee Trevino should be all the way back to his old self by the time he returns to Malvern's Chester Valley Golf Club to defend his championship at the PGA Seniors Bell Atlantic Classic, from May 21 to 23. Trevino underwent surgery to repair ligament damage in his left thumb in December. He returned to competitive golf last month and, remarkably, won the Fuji Electric Grandslam tournament two weeks ago in Japan. Trevino says he's hitting the ball "very well.

A day of near-perfect playing conditions and ideal weather for the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club ended yesterday with Dave Stockton and Jack Kiefer sharing the lead with 67s, and with the possibility that Lee Trevino - the dominant player on the Senior PGA tour - might withdraw. Trevino, the 1990 Senior Open champion and the favorite to win again this year, said he has a bursitis-like ailment in his left thumb. He managed to shoot a 2-over-par 73 on Saucon Valley's 6,700-yard Old Course, but he said that he felt a sharp pain on every iron shot and didn't hit one crisply all day. Trevino saw a doctor at an undisclosed area hospital later in the day and was scheduled to start play today at 12:50 p.m. When asked after his round if he was considering withdrawing, Trevino replied, "Yes.

On a day when the rain-softened Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club yielded its fair share of low scores, the most relevant story to emerge from the opening round of the 13th U.S. Senior Open had to do with a guy who managed only a 2-over-par 73. Lee Trevino, who won this event in his first try in 1990 and tied for fourth place in this event last July, is playing with a painful left thumb that threatens to knock this year's obvious favorite...

A sentimental sort could get misty-eyed listening to Lee Trevino rhapsodize about golf. He calls it "my life, my pastime" and uses the word love a lot. "I don't want to do anything else," he said yesterday after his pro-am round at the Bell Atlantic Classic, which begins today. Next year, however, that's just what the dominant player on the 1992 Senior PGA tour will be doing - something else. Trevino intends to cut back his schedule by at least one-third. His 3-year-old daughter, Olivia, will be getting ready to enter school in 1993, and he has a child due in October who will be crawling around the house.