Thomas "Tom or Tommy" McGinnis (November 27, 1947 – June 6, 2019) 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 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 ...

. McGinnis was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. He attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

and 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 from 1967–1969. He turned professional in 1969. McGinnis had 49 starts in PGA Tour events during his regular career; he earned and lost his Tour card 3 times. His best finish in a PGA Tour event was a solo 5th at the 1976

Ed McMahon-Jaycees 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 beg ...

. His best finish in a major championship was 55th at the 1980 U.S. Open. He earned his living primarily as a club and teaching pro at various clubs in Tennessee, New York and Florida. McGinnis has eight top-10 finishes in Champions tour events including one win. The highlight of his career was defeating

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

in a playoff at the 1999 BankBoston Classic. With his win, McGinnis deprived Irwin of the chance to match

Chi-Chi Rodríguez Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez (October 23, 1935 – August 8, 2024) was a Puerto Rican professional golfer. The winner of eight PGA Tour events, he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Early life Rodr� ...

's record of three straight titles in this event. McGinnis worked as a teaching pro at Pine Forest Country Club in Summerville, South Carolina. He was also an assistant coach for the boy's varsity golf team at Pinewood Preparatory School, the South Carolina 2006 Class AAA champions. McGinnis died on June 6, 2019, in

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, South Carolina, Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley County, South Carolina, Berkeley and Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston ...

Amateur wins

*1965 Tennessee Junior Amateur, International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament *1969 Memphis City Amateur

Professional wins (6)

Regular career wins (5)

*1971 Saskatchewan Open, Willow Park Classic (Canada) *1986 New York State Open *1996 Long Island PGA Championship,

Long Island Open The Long Island Open is a professional golf tournament played on Long Island, New York. It is sponsored by the Long Island Golf Association and was first held in 1922 at the Cherry Valley Club in Garden City, New York. History The Long Island ...

Champions Tour wins (1)

Champions Tour playoff record (1–0)

References

External links