Lon Hinkle

Lon Hinkle
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.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	Apr 30, 1978	First NBC New Orleans Open	−17 (74-67-64-66=271)	1 stroke	Gibby Gilbert, Fuzzy Zoeller
2	Feb 4, 1979	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−4 (70-68-69-77=284)	Playoff	Andy Bean, Mark Hayes
3	Sep 30, 1979	World Series of Golf	−8 (67-67-71-67=272)	1 stroke	Larry Nelson, Bill Rogers, Lee Trevino

PGA Tour playoff record (1-2)

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

Ben Hogan Tour (1)

1991 Ben Hogan Quicksilver Open

Other (2)

1978 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Pat Bradley)
1981 World Long Drive Championship

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

Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1982 U.S. Open – 1987 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

References

↑ The Hinkle Tree
↑ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved January 25, 2008.

External links

Lon Hinkle at the PGA Tour official site

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