Juan Antonio Rodriguez*

Chi Chi Rodríguez, one of six children in his family, was born in 1935 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. His father worked 14 hours a day, six or seven days a week, as a laborer and cattle handler. 'He never made more than $18 a week,' says Rodriguez.

To help with the family finances, Rodríguez began working when he was seven, carrying water to the field workers on a sugar plantation. One day, he wandered near a golf course and thought caddying would be easier than carrying water. He practiced playing golf by using a can and hitting it with a guava tree stick. When Rodríguez was nine, a member of the golf club let the boy borrow his clubs to practice. At 12, Rodríguez scored a remarkable 67, which made him think golf might be his way out of poverty.

Rodríguez caddied until he entered the U.S. Army at age 19. By the time he was released from service, he was well known in military golf tournaments. He began working as an assistant golf pro at Puerto Rico's Dorado Beach Resort in 1957, where he received his first formal golf lessons. At 25, he joined the golf circuit, and three years later, he won the Denver Open. Trophies and winnings began accumulating. He bought his mother a house and helped his siblings financially.

In 1985, he joined the Champions Tour and became the first player in that circuit to win the same event three consecutive years when he claimed the Digital Seniors Classic in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1988. In 1989, Rodríguez received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Golf Association. In 1992, he became the first Puerto Rican ever to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Two years later, he was inducted into the World Humanitarian Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1979, Rodríguez'along with Bob James and Bill Hayes'established the Chi Chi Rodríguez Youth Foundation. This after-school program at the Glen Oaks Golf Course in Clearwater, Florida, serves 650 children and works to instill greater self-esteem in young people who are victims of abuse, delinquency, or other hardships. Volunteers teach horticulture, golf, retail skills, personal life management, hygiene, and social behavior.