Golf legend, Alabama man longtime friends
ALABASTER – There really is no logical explanation as to why Chi Chi Rodriguez and Bennie Smallwood ended up friends for life.
Smallwood started telling the story of his lifelong friendship with Rodriguez shortly before the 88-year-old flamboyant PGA Tour pro died in Florida last August. He only recently finished telling it.
At times, Smallwood struggled to recount the times he shared with Juan Antonio “Chi Chi” Rodriguez — who throughout his 30-plus-year career in professional golf brought laughter and joy to millions with his signature sword dance after sinking a putt.
His voice cracking with emotion, Smallwood spun stories of his frequent trips to Puerto Rico to visit Chi Chi and his wife, Iwalani. He smiled while telling stories of their routine of eating breakfast at 6 each morning when he was visiting – whether at Chi Chi’s home or when he was playing in tournaments. He reminisced about their frequent calls, often while they both watched golf on TV. And there’s that story of how they met in Memphis at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic so many years ago – even if their versions don’t totally jibe.
Beginnings of a friendship
It started with a teenager in Tuscumbia, Alabama, watching a golf tournament on TV and a newspaper photograph.
Smallwood remembers Chi Chi’s caddie carrying the golfer across a small creek after hitting a shot. It left a lasting impression, and when Smallwood found out Chi Chi was playing in the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, well, he had to go watch the man play.
According to Smallwood, Chi Chi’s version had them meeting when Smallwood was 8 years old. Smallwood’s version – probably the more accurate one – has them meeting when he was in high school. Regardless, that meeting set in motion their life-long friendship.
“I had followed Chi Chi for a few holes the year before at the pro-am, but when we went back for the weekend he had missed the cut,” Smallwood said. “The next year I was standing at the ropes and Chi Chi came out with his big green and white Northwestern golf bag and his caddie sat it next to where I was standing. Chi Chi saw me. He did a double take and walked over to me and asked me who I was going to follow that day. I told him I was going to follow him. He said, ‘If you’re going to follow me, come on.’ And he raised the rope and I went in and walked with him for the practice round.”
Smallwood returned for the weekend rounds and followed Chi Chi again. From there, the friendship was born. Every year after that, Chi Chi’s manager would send Smallwood Chi Chi’s tournament schedule.
“I asked him many times if he did remember me from that year before,” Smallwood said. “Chi Chi always said, ‘Yeah, you were a tall, skinny, blonde-headed kid. I remembered you. That’s why I came up to speak to you.”
After that, Smallwood would contact Chi Chi by leaving messages at his hotels or tournament offices.
“Then he’d call me and we would talk,” Smallwood said. “When I got to college, I had a car and I’d call him and ask if he was playing in Atlanta or Pensacola. I’d ask if he minded if I came to watch him play. “He would always say that he would have at least two in his gallery – me and his wife.”
Smallwood said he began to realize that theirs was more than just a casual friendship after Chi Chi had retired in the early 1990s and returned to live in Puerto Rico.
“He’d call me and invite me down for his birthday in October,” Smallwood said. “And then one time I was going to leave on a Thursday and I had my stuff packed, kind of sitting in the hall and he says, why don’t you stay until Saturday? I told him it cost a lot to change my flight and that I might come back in January. He said OK. That’s all that was said. But I wasn’t sure he meant it.”
A phone call clarified it.
“I asked if he was serious about me coming back and he said, ‘Hell yeah, I was serious. When you coming?” Smallwood said.
The room in the house
Smallwood’s office/spare room is just a few short steps down a hallway from where he tells his story. Open the door, step inside and there is an overwhelming amount of Chi Chi memorabilia – all of it gifts from his friend. Among the items are personalized signed prints adorning the walls, a signed pair of golf shoes, a Chi Chi bobblehead and, of course, his trademark Panama hat.
On many of the prints, Chi Chi refers to Smallwood as “my brother.” It’s proof that theirs was not a casual acquaintance. In fact, Smallwood said he was never overly comfortable sharing stories of their friendship, preferring to keep it private. For Smallwood, it wasn’t about bragging about who he knew or the experiences they had shared. Instead, it was about guarding Chi Chi’s privacy.
Smallwood says he’s not sure why the two connected early on, but notes that as the years passed, Chi Chi came to trust him. When asked why, Smallwood offered a simple explanation.
“Because he knew I wasn’t going to hurt him,” Smallwood said. “I wasn’t trying to get his money or trying to get a deal. I didn’t want him to sponsor me in something or want to go in business together.”
Smallwood also insisted that he pay his own way, including meals. If Chi Chi paid for dinner, Smallwood would pay for breakfast the next morning.
Storytime
When a friendship evolves over many decades, there are countless memories that emerge. Smallwood has so many that he opted to write notes on a legal pad. He doesn’t want to forget something that might be important.
And stories – well, he’s got a ton of them. Like they time they were playing a casual round at Dorado Beach, Chi Chi’s home course in Puerto Rico, and Smallwood had flared his drive into the rough. That was just the start.
“When we got up to it you could have taken an 18-wheeler sideways and hit it through the opening I had,” Smallwood said of the shot facing him. “I think it was a 9-iron and I came over the top of it – nobody has ever come over the top of a ball as pretty as I did. And I hit one of the palm trees that was nowhere near where I needed to hit it. I had to jump out of the way because it almost hit me. I looked over at Chi Chi and he was sitting in the car just grinning.”
The story doesn’t end there, though.
“I got over it and I swung again, and again I came over the top and it hit the same darn tree,” Smallwood continued. “I look over now Chi Chi’s laughing. So, I get to the ball again and I come over the top of it – again – and I hit that same darn tree and I had to jump out of the way again. And I looked up again, I couldn’t see Chi Chi. I thought, where did he go? And he’s laying down in the floorboard of the cart, laughing so hard.”
When Smallwood wasn’t visiting Chi Chi either in Puerto Rico or after he moved to Florida, the two frequently were having phone conversations. It’s those phone calls that Smallwood misses most these days, now that the PGA Tour is back in full swing.
Often, each would be watching the same golf tournament on TV while chatting on the phone. Smallwood noted that Chi Chi could often predict the outcome of the shots they were watching.
“Chi Chi would say things like, ‘He should be hitting this shot,’ or, ‘Watch, he’s going to put that one in a bunker,’” Smallwood said. “He was right a lot of the time too.”
Smallwood has stories about Chi Chi’s philanthropy – on small and large scales.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard him say anything negative about anyone,” Smallwood said. “He was always looking to help the less fortunate, whether it was somebody wanting to do a golf tournament for a charity or to help assistant pros. He was just always looking for a way to help somebody.”
Smallwood said he often saw Chi Chi return appearance fees to the tournament hosts.
“He would just sign the check and give it back to them,” Smallwood said. “Sometimes he would point out someone and give me $20 and tell me to give it to them or pay for somebody’s food. If he was a regular at a restaurant, he always would tip them big.”
Smallwood didn’t just hang with Chi Chi on their visits. His routine often included breakfast with Chi Chi, and the rest of the morning spent going on some sort of outing.
“We’d get back from breakfast and [Chi Chi’s wife] would be sitting on the couch with her purse, ready to go somewhere,” Smallwood said. “And we would just go. We’d come back, have lunch with Chi Chi, and if we weren’t going to the golf course, she and I would go somewhere else. I just loved that woman.”
The aftermath
Chi Chi battled health problems throughout 2024. As a U.S. Army veteran who enlisted in 1954, Rodriguez was eligible for care through the Veterans Administration. Smallwood’s last visit with his friend came shortly before Chi Chi was admitted to a VA facility.
“I was there for a few days and told him I had to get back to Birmingham,” Smallwood recalled. “He told me that it would be the last time I would see him, but I told him I’d be back and take him to Jupiter [Florida] to eat at Tiger’s restaurant. It was his favorite place to eat. He said, ‘No. This is will be the last time you see me. I asked God to take me.’”
Chi Chi went into intensive care the next day and died on Aug. 8, 2024.
“It killed me,” Smallwood said. “It still does. I miss our conversations.”
Smallwood attended a celebration of life for his friend at the World Golf Hall of Fame in November. Now, he’s left with the memories of a long friendship that started with a photograph, that image of Chi Chi’s caddie carrying him across a creek.
“That photo. I called just about every newspaper in Canada trying to get a copy of it. I finally found it,” Smallwood said. “I told the lady kind of who I was and I what I wanted. I asked her to send me the whole page. It was more authentic like that. So, I got it and took it to him. He got a kick out of it.”
Gregg Dewalt is the editor of Alabama Golf News
Have a story idea or a news item to report to Alabama Golf News? Email gregg@alabamagolfnews.com
Featured image of Bennie Smallwood and a photo montage of Chi Chi Rodriguez by Gregg Dewalt
