Chi Chi Rodriguez
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Juan Antonio Rodríguez |
| Nickname | Chi-Chi |
| Born |
October 23, 1935 Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg; 11 st) |
| Nationality |
 Puerto Rico United States
|
| 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 |
| U.S. Open | T6: 1981 |
| The Open Championship | T28: 1973 |
| PGA Championship | T15: 1969 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1992 (member page) |
| Old Tom Morris Award | 1989 |
| Bob Jones Award | 1989 |
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.
Rodríguez was born into a poor family in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He was one of six siblings. His father used to earn $18 a week as a laborer and cattle handler. When Rodríguez was 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 he was, 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 67.
In 1954, when Rodríguez was 19, he joined the United States 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."
Rodríguez turned professional in 1960. In 1963, at age 28, Rodríguez won the Denver Open, which he considers his favorite win. He won eight titles on the PGA Tour between 1963 and 1979.
At first Rodríguez used to put his hat over the hole whenever he made a birdie or eagle. After he heard that other golfers were complaining about his little act, he decided to try something new. Juan developed his signature "toreador dance," where he would make believe that the ball was a "bull" and that his putter was a "sword," and he would terminate the "bull." Even though he was a very small man, he had a special stance and swing with the driver that enabled him to hit the ball as far as the longest drivers on the tour. Rodríguez represented Puerto Rico on 12 World Cup teams.
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Wikipedia