Chi-Chi Rodríguez
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||
| Full name | Juan Antonio Rodríguez | ||||||
| Nickname | Chi-Chi | ||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg; 11 st) | ||||||
| Sporting nationality |  Puerto Rico | ||||||
| Career | |||||||
| College | None | ||||||
| Turned professional | 1960 | ||||||
| Current tour(s) | Champions Tour | ||||||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||||||
| Professional wins | 38 | ||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||
| PGA Tour | 8 | ||||||
| PGA Tour Champions | 22 | ||||||
| Best results in major championships | |||||||
| Masters Tournament | T10: 1970, 1973 | ||||||
| PGA Championship | T15: 1969 | ||||||
| U.S. Open | T6: 1981 | ||||||
| The Open Championship | T28: 1973 | ||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||
| |||||||
Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez (born October 23, 1935) is a Puerto Rican professional golfer. He was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Early years
Rodríguez was born into a poor family in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He was one of six siblings. His father used to earn only $18 a week as a laborer and cattle handler. When Rodríguez was only seven years old, he helped the family by earning money as a water carrier on a sugar plantation. One day Juan wandered off into a golf course. When he saw that the caddies were earning more money than him, he decided to become a caddy himself.
Rodríguez would take a branch from a guava tree and turn it into a golf club. Using a metal can as a "golf ball", he would practice what he had seen the "real" golfers do, teaching himself how to play golf. By the time he was nine years old, he was proficient at golf and in 1947 at the age of 12, he scored a remarkable 67.
In 1954, when Rodríguez was 19, he joined the Army. During his breaks, he would visit whichever golf course was nearby, where he continued to perfect his game.
Rodríguez, with characteristic charisma, would often make jokes about his past hardships on the golf course, such as, "How long does John Daly drive a golf ball? When I was a kid, I didn't go that far on vacation." And, "Playing golf is not hot work. Cutting sugar cane for a dollar a day—that's hot work. Hotter than my first wrist watch." [1]
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Senior PGA Tour
Rodríguez became eligible to play on the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour) in 1985 and did so for many years with great success, accumulating 22 tournament victories between 1986 and 1993. He was the first player on the Senior PGA Tour to win the same event in three consecutive years. He set a tour record with eight consecutive birdies en route to a win at the 1987 Silver Pages Classic.
In 1989, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Rodríguez received the 1989 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, GCSAA's highest honor. In 1991, he lost an 18-hole playoff to a legendary Jack Nicklaus in the U.S. Senior Open. In 1992, Juan "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, the first Puerto Rican so honored.
Later years
On one occasion Rodríguez had a brief encounter with Mother Teresa. He considers that moment as the greatest moment in his life. This encounter inspired him to help others. Rodríguez, together with former pro golfer Bill Hayes and Bob Jones, established the "Chi-Chi Rodríguez Youth Foundation", an afterschool program at the Glen Oaks Golf Course in Clearwater, Florida. The principal idea behind the foundation is to instill self-esteem in young people who are victims of abuse, have experienced minor brushes with the law, or have suffered other hardships. Rodríguez also bought his mother a house and gave financial help to his brothers and sisters.
In October 1998, Rodríguez suffered a heart attack. He had an angioplasty to clear the blocked artery and made a recovery. He is married and has one daughter.
Professional wins (38)
PGA Tour wins (8)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 1, 1963 | Denver Open Invitational | -11 (68-74-65-69=276) | 2 strokes |  Bill Eggers
|
| 2 | Jan 26, 1964 | Lucky International Open | -12 (72-69-65-66=272) | Playoff | Don January
|
| 3 | Aug 9, 1964 | Western Open | -16 (64-69-68-67=268) | 1 stroke | Arnold Palmer
|
| 4 | Apr 30, 1967 | Texas Open Invitational | -7 (68-73-70-66=277) | 1 stroke |  Bob Charles, Bob Goalby
|
| 5 | Oct 20, 1968 | Sahara Invitational | -10 (70-71-69-64=274) | Playoff | Dale Douglass
|
| 6 | Apr 30, 1972 | Byron Nelson Golf Classic | -7 (66-68-69-70=273) | Playoff | Billy Casper
|
| 7 | Apr 2, 1973 | Greater Greensboro Open | -17 (68-66-67-66=267) | 1 stroke | Lou Graham, Ken Still
|
| 8 | Apr 22, 1979 | Tallahassee Open | -19 (66-69-67-67=269) | 3 strokes | Lindy Miller
|
Other wins (4)
- 1963 Colombian Open
- 1976 Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Championship (with JoAnn Washam)
- 1979 Bahamas Open, Panama Open (tie with Butch Baird)
Senior PGA Tour wins (22)
- 1986 (3) Senior Tournament Players Championship, Digital Seniors Classic, United Virginia Bank Seniors
- 1987 (7) General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Vantage at The Dominion, United Hospitals Senior Golf Championship, Silver Pages Classic, Senior Players Reunion Pro-Am, Digital Seniors Classic, GTE Northwest Classic
- 1988 (2) Doug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity Classic, Digital Seniors Classic
- 1989 (1) Crestar Classic
- 1990 (3) Las Vegas Senior Classic, Ameritech Senior Open, Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic
- 1991 (4) GTE West Classic, Vintage ARCO Invitational, Las Vegas Senior Classic, Murata Reunion Pro-Am
- 1992 (1) Ko Olina Senior Invitational
- 1993 (1) Burnet Senior Classic
Senior major championships are shown in bold.
Other senior wins (4)
- 1988 Japan PGA Senior Championship, Senior Skins Game
- 1989 Senior Skins Game
- 1993 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | T33 | CUT | T21 | CUT | DNP | T26 | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | WD | T40 | T44 | T42 | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | T44 | T71 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T15 |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T10 | T30 | CUT | T10 | T20 | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T27 | T13 | T9 | T29 | T26 | DNP | CUT | 60 | T46 | T32 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | T28 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | CUT | T66 | T24 | T24 | T39 | T22 | DNP | CUT | DNP | T46 |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T44 | DNP | T38 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | T6 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | WD | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
See also
References
- ^ The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations, ed. Jim Apfelbaum. 2007.