Lon Hinkle

Lon Hinkle
 Golfer 
Personal information
Born (1949-07-17) July 17, 1949
Flint, Michigan
Nationality  United States
Career
College San Diego State University
Turned professional 1972
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 6
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 3
Web.com Tour 1
Other 2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T28: 1981
U.S. Open T3: 1980
The Open Championship T19: 1975
PGA Championship T3: 1980

Lon Hinkle (born July 17, 1949) is an American professional golfer who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

Hinkle was born in Flint, Michigan. He attended San Diego State University, where he was a member of the golf team. He turned pro and joined the PGA Tour in 1972.

Hinkle won three tournaments in his career on the PGA Tour, all of which came in the late 1970s. In 1979, he earned $247,693, finished 3rd on the money list, and won two Tour events, including the World Series of Golf. That year in the first round of the U.S. Open at Inverness Club he took a shortcut, cutting the dogleg on the par-5 8th hole by hitting onto the 17th fairway. Overnight, USGA officials planted a tree (known ever afterwards as The Hinkle Tree) to block the shortcut.[1] His best finish in a major was a T-3 at both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 1980.[2] During his career on the PGA Tour, he had more than 50 top-10 finishes.

After turning 50 in 1999, Hinkle joined the Champions Tour. His best finish at that level is a T-12 in the 2000 Audi Senior Classic.

Hinkle lives in Bigfork, Montana in the northwest corner of the state.

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runners-up
1 Apr 30, 1978 First NBC New Orleans Open −17 (74-67-64-66=271) 1 stroke United States Gibby Gilbert, United States Fuzzy Zoeller
2 Feb 4, 1979 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am −4 (70-68-69-77=284) Playoff United States Andy Bean, United States Mark Hayes
3 Sep 30, 1979 World Series of Golf −8 (67-67-71-67=272) 1 stroke United States Larry Nelson, United States Bill Rogers, United States Lee Trevino

PGA Tour playoff record (1-2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1977 Tallahassee Open United States Ed Sneed Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 1979 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am United States Andy Bean, United States Mark Hayes Hinkle won with birdie on third extra hole
Bean eliminated with par on second hole
3 1986 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic United States Raymond Floyd, United States Mike Sullivan Floyd won with par on first extra hole

Ben Hogan Tour (1)

Other (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT WD T28 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP T38 DNP CUT T53 T3 T6 T45 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T19 DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP T31 63 T65 T3 T39 T9 T47 70 T51 DNP 73

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
U.S. Open 0 0 1 1 2 2 6 5
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
PGA Championship 0 0 1 1 2 2 10 10
Totals 0 0 2 2 4 5 23 17

References

External links

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