Lon Hinkle
| Lon Hinkle | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Lon Currey Hinkle |
| Born | July 17, 1949 Flint, Michigan, U.S. |
| Sporting nationality | File:Flag of the United States (23px).png United States |
| Career | |
| College | San Diego State University |
| Turned professional | 1972 |
| Former tours | PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 5 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 3 |
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T28: 1981 |
| PGA Championship | T3: 1980 |
| U.S. Open | T3: 1980 |
| The Open Championship | T19: 1975 |
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Lon Currey Hinkle (born July 17, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
Early life and amateur career
[edit | edit source]In 1949, Hinkle was born in Flint, Michigan. He attended Santana High School in Santee, California and graduated in 1967.
Hinkle attended nearby San Diego State University for college. He was a member of the golf team.
Professional career
[edit | edit source]In 1972, Hinkle turned professional. He joined the PGA Tour after his success at 1972 PGA Tour Qualifying School.
In the late 1970s, Hinkle won three tournaments on the PGA Tour. 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. He also played on the European Tour occasionally. Though he never won he finished runner-up at the 1975 German Open and 1980 European Open.
In 1981, Hinkle won the World Long Drive Championship.
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.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Hinkle lives in Bigfork, Montana in the northwest corner of the state.
Professional wins (5)
[edit | edit source]PGA Tour wins (3)
[edit | edit source]| 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 | 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. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(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 | Won with birdie on third extra hole Bean eliminated by 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 |
Source:[3]
Ben Hogan Tour wins (1)
[edit | edit source]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 2, 1991 | Ben Hogan Quicksilver Open | −6 (70-68-72=210) | 2 strokes | United States Andy Morse, United States Rick Pearson, United States Joey Rassett |
Other wins (1)
[edit | edit source]- 1978 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Pat Bradley)
Results in major championships
[edit | edit source]| Tournament | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | WD | T28 | CUT | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | T38 | CUT | T53 | T3 | T6 | T45 | |||||||
| The Open Championship | T19 | CUT | CUT | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | T31 | 63 | T65 | T3 | T39 | T9 | T47 | 70 | T51 | 73 |
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
[edit | edit source]| 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 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1982 U.S. Open – 1987 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)
Results in The Players Championship
[edit | edit source]| Tournament | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | 3 | CUT | T39 | CUT | T56 | CUT | T7 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ The Hinkle Tree
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Lon Hinkle at the PGA Tour official site
- Lon Hinkle at the Official World Golf Ranking official site