Lee Trevino, a man whose swing might have been as intricate as a Baudrillard essay and whose wit sharper than a perfectly sharpened putter, once deigned to offer his own sacred canon of golf’s demigods. One imagines him, perhaps after a particularly satisfying shank into the rough, contemplating the very essence of greatness, much as Socrates might have mulled over the virtue of the polis. His pronouncements, delivered with the nonchalant authority of a man who has wrestled with more than just recalcitrant fairways, suggest a hierarchy as fluid and yet as defined as the currents of the River Styx.
When pressed by the good folk at SIRIUSXM PGA TOUR Radio—a rather prosaic forum for such profound philosophical inquiry, one must admit—Trevino likened golfers to an orange tree. A curious analogy, to be sure, suggesting a certain organic growth and perhaps an inherent sweetness to their game. He posits a singular, supreme orange, closely followed by a constellation of others, all orbiting a central core of excellence. This celestial metaphor, while charming, does leave one wondering if the fallen oranges are simply left to rot, a thought too grim for such a sunny subject.
The top echelon, according to El Cid, is a select fraternity, with the paramount position debated amongst no fewer than three titans. These titans are none other than Jack Nicklaus, the king of the majors with a haul that would make Midas blush; Sam Snead, a man whose longevity and sheer volume of victories suggest he simply refused to leave the course; and the immortal Bobby Jones, the gentleman amateur whose legend casts a shadow even today. Hovering just outside this hallowed circle, yet "touching them a little bit," is Tiger Woods, a modern titan whose achievements arguably rewrite the very rulebook of golfing possibility.
It is a selection that, for the most part, elicits a knowing nod rather than a raised eyebrow, though one might playfully suggest Trevino’s oranges are perhaps a tad too ripe in their veneration. Nicklaus and Snead’s statistical dominance is, of course, the stuff of legend. And Bobby Jones, the amateur who conquered professionals without turning pro, remains an almost mythical figure, his career a tantalizing “what if.” Tiger Woods, naturally, needs no introduction; his career is a saga in itself, a testament to raw talent and an almost supernatural will to conquer.