Frank Conner (born January 11, 1946) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, Nationwide Tour, and

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

. He was also an accomplished amateur tennis player. He,

Ellsworth Vines Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr. (September 28, 1911 – March 17, 1994) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. 1 in 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1937, able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. ...

and G. H. "Pete" Bostwick Jr. are the only men to play in the U.S. Open in both

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

.Trinity University Hall of Fame profile
/ref>
/ref>

Life and career

Conner was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where his father was stationed with the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He competed in the U.S. Open in tennis in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. He attended Trinity University in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, graduating in 1970 with a degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

. While at Trinity he was an All-American in tennis in 1968. He was elected to Trinity's Hall of Fame in 2001.Trinity University's Hall of Fame
/ref> Conner gave up playing tennis and turned to golf, turning professional in 1971. He failed four times at

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

before finally getting his tour card and joining the

in 1975. He played on the PGA Tour from 1975 to 1989 and again in 1992. He finished second four times: in 1979 to

Hubert Green Hubert Myatt Green (December 28, 1946 – June 19, 2018) was an American professional golfer who won 29 professional golf tournaments, including two major championships: the 1977 U.S. Open and the 1985 PGA Championship. He was inducted into the ...

at the

First NBC New Orleans Open The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly pla ...

, in 1981 to Dave Barr in a five-man playoff at the

Quad Cities Open The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...

, in 1982 to Tom Watson in a playoff at the

Sea Pines Heritage The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Th ...

, and in 1984 to

George Archer George William Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American professional golfer who won 13 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the Masters in 1969. Early years Born in San Francisco, California, Arch ...

at the

Bank of Boston Classic The New England Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1969 through 1998. It was held under various names at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts. Tournament highlights *1975: Roger Maltbie wins for the second cons ...

. He won the 1988

Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic The Sanderson Farms Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in Mississippi. It moved to the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson in autumn 2014, early in the 2015 season. The tournament has been part of the PG ...

which was played opposite the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

- it was an official money event but not an official win on the PGA Tour. His best finish in a major championship was a T-6 at the 1981 U.S. Open. Conner played on the Ben Hogan Tour (now Nationwide Tour) from 1990–91 and 1993-95. He won twice in 1991 at the

Ben Hogan Knoxville Open The Visit Knoxville Open is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is played annually at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. It is one of four original Tour events still played. The Knoxville News Sentinel Th ...

and the Ben Hogan Tulsa Open and finished fifth on the money list to regain his PGA Tour card. After turning 50 in 1996, Conner played on the Senior PGA Tour (now

) from 1996 to 2002. His best finishes on this tour were a pair of second places: at the 1997

The Transamerica The Napa Valley Championship was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1989 to 2002. It was played in Napa, California at the Silverado Country Club. The purse for the 2002 tournament was US$1,300,000, with $195,000 going to the winner. T ...

and the 1998

Kroger Senior Classic The Kroger Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1990 to 2004. It was played in Mason, Ohio at the Golf Center at Kings Island (1990–2001) and Maineville, Ohio at the TPC at River's Bend (2002–2004). The purse for the 200 ...

in a five-man playoff.

Professional wins (7)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (2)

Ben Hogan Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (5)

*1978

Southern Texas PGA Championship The Southern Texas PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the championship of the Southern Texas section of the PGA of America. The Southern Texas section was formed in 1968, and the tournament has been played annually since that time. Tommy ...

*1982 King Hassan Open,

*1983

Texas State Open The Texas State Open is the Texas state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Northern Texas section of the PGA of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) ...

*1988

(unofficial PGA Tour win)

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2) Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Frank American male golfers American male tennis players PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from San Antonio Sportspeople from San Antonio Sportspeople from Las Vegas Sportspeople from Vienna Tennis people from Texas Trinity Tigers athletes Trinity Tigers men's tennis players American expatriate sportspeople in Austria 1946 births Living people