Jimmy Lee Thorpe (born February 1, 1949) is an American retired professional golfer, who last played on the Champions Tour.

Early life

Thorpe was born in Roxboro, North Carolina, the ninth of the twelve children of a fairway superintendent. He attended

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

Professional career

In 1972, Thorpe turned professional. He won three times 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 ...

in the mid-1980s. He has surpassed this at senior level by winning over ten times on the Senior PGA Tour, including one senior major championship, the 2002

Tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

. He made the top ten of the senior tour's career money list in 2004.

Personal life

Thorpe's late success has been clouded by charges filed in federal court in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, charging him with failure to pay $1.6 million in taxes between the years 2002 and 2004. After his lawyer stated that Thorpe intended to plead innocent to the charges. However, Thorpe pleaded guilty in September 2009. On January 22, 2010, Thorpe was sentenced to one year in prison for the crime. Thorpe was released from prison on January 17, 2011. He was under suspension by the

until March 31.Jim Thorpe, Champions Tour golfer, released from jail
/ref> He then resumed his career on the Champions Tour.

Professional wins (21)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Canadian Tour wins (1)

Other wins (3)

*1991 Amoco Centel Championship, Jamaica Open *1993 Jerry Ford Invitational (tie with Jay Delsing, and Donnie Hammond)

Champions Tour wins (13)

''*Note: The 2001 Kroger Senior Classic was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.'' Champions Tour playoff record (3–1)

Other senior wins (1)

*2014 Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf - Legends Division (with

Jim Colbert James Joseph Colbert (born March 9, 1941) is an American professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Colbert was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Kansas State University, where he finished second in the NCAA golf championsh ...

)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

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

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2016.'' ''The Senior British Open was not a Champions Tour major until 2003.''
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Jim American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of senior major golf championships African-American golfers Golfers from North Carolina Golfers from Florida American people convicted of tax crimes People from Roxboro, North Carolina People from Heathrow, Florida Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida 1949 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen