Lon Hinkle (born July 17, 1949) 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 has played on both 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 ...

and the Champions Tour. Hinkle was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. He attended

Santana High School Santana High School, located in Santee, California, is part of the Grossmont Union High School District. History 2001 Shooting On March 5, 2001, at Santana High School, 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams shot and killed two students and injure ...

Santee, California Santee is a suburban city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 60,075 at the 2020 census. Although it is a part of the East County region, Santee is located just from the Pacific Ocean. The city is connected to the coastline ...

, graduating in 1967. He then attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, where he was a member of the

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 ...

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 The World Series of Golf was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. From its inception in 1962 through 1975, it was an unofficial 36-hole event matching the winners of the four major champi ...

. 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 The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

officials planted a tree (known ever afterwards as The Hinkle Tree) to block the shortcut. His best finish in a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

was a T-3 at both the U.S. Open and the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

in 1980. 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 The World Long Drive Championship is an annual long drive competition in the sport of golf. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 has comprised Open, Masters (over-45s) and Women's events. From 1995 to 2013, the events were sanctioned by the ...

. 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 The MasterCard Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 2000 to 2004. It was played in late February/early March in Mexico, first in Puebla for two years and then in the Mexico City area. It was the first Champions Tour event in M ...

. Hinkle lives in

Bigfork, Montana Bigfork is a census-designated place (CDP) in Flathead County, Montana, United States. It is within Montana's Rocky Mountains. The population was 4,270 at the 2010 census, up from 1,421 in 2000. History Some say the name "Bigfork" is derived ...

in the northwest corner of the state.

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

*1978

JCPenney Mixed Team Classic The JCPenney Classic was a mixed team golf tournament sponsored by the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour. Teams consisted of one PGA Tour player and one LPGA Tour player (except in 1967 when the teams were male only). It was played in California and Flor ...

(with Pat Bradley)

Results in major championships

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

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

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinkle, Lon American male golfers San Diego State Aztecs men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Michigan Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan Golfers from San Diego People from Bigfork, Montana 1949 births Living people