Daniel David Sikes, Jr. (December 7, 1929 – December 20, 1987) was 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 as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

and

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

. Sikes won nine tournaments as a pro, including six PGA Tour events. He was influential as the chairman of the tournament players committee in the late 1960s, prior to the formation of the PGA Tour.

Early life

Sikes was born in

Wildwood, Florida Wildwood is a city in Sumter County, Florida, Sumter County, Florida, United States. The population was 15,730 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Wildwood has been in operation since 1881. The city was named for its remote location ...

and was raised in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. He attended Andrew Jackson High School.

Amateur career

Sikes enrolled at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, where he played for the Florida Gators' golf team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) competition from 1951 to 1953.
Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 39 & 42 (2010). Retrieved July 11, 2011. He was recognized as an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1952—the University of Florida's ''first'' All-American golfer. Sikes graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1953. Although he later earned a law degree from the university's College of Law and was known as the "golfing lawyer," he never actually practiced law. He was the chairman and spokesman of the controversial tournament players' committee prior to the formation of the "Tournament Players Division" in late

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, which was later renamed the

. Sikes won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

championship in 1958 while in law school.

Professional career

Sikes turned professional in 1960 and won six tournaments on the PGA Tour, half in his home state of Florida. Sikes' career year was

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, when he won two events and was fifth on the money list. He was also the 54-hole leader at 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. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

and finished one shot out of the playoff, in a tie for third with

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. Due to disputes with the

PGA of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...

, the championship was nearly boycotted by the top tournament players. Sikes played on the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

Royal Birkdale Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Cham ...

. Sikes later represented caddies on tour in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and was instrumental in helping organize the Senior PGA Tour, later renamed the

. He won three times on the senior tour, the first at the rain-shortened Hilton Head Seniors International in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, which Sikes and Miller Barber were leading when play was stopped.

Personal life

Sikes died in Jacksonville at age 58 in late 1987.

Awards and honors

Sikes was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."F Club, Hall of Fame
Gator Greats
Retrieved December 15, 2014. Sikes was posthumously inducted into the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (6)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Senior PGA Tour wins (3)

''*Note: The 1982 Hilton Head Seniors International was shortened to 36 holes due to weather.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Results in major championships

''Note: Sikes never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 21 (1962 U.S. Open – 1970 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

References

External links

*
University of Florida Foundation
Dan Sikes Memorial Endowment
Jacksonville.com
Athletes of the Century: Dan Sikes {{DEFAULTSORT:Sikes, Dan American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Jacksonville, Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni People from Wildwood, Florida 1929 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen