Lon Currey 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 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 the

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 ...

. Hinkle was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. He attended

Santana High School Santana High School is a public high school in Santee, California. It is part of 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 st ...

Santee, California Santee is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 60,037 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the East County region. The city is bisected by the San Diego River, a linear greenbelt that includes parks, trails ...

, graduating in 1967. He then attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, where he was a member of the

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

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. 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 most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

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. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

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 2015, the events were owned and produce ...

. 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. 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 5,118 at the 2020 census, up from 4,270 in 2010. 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 20th-century American sportsmen