Dan Sikes

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.

Dan Sikes
Personal information
Full name	Daniel David Sikes, Jr.
Nickname	"The Golfing Lawyer"
Born	(1929-12-07)December 7, 1929 Wildwood, Florida
Died	December 20, 1987(1987-12-20) (aged 58) Jacksonville, Florida
Sporting nationality	United States
Career
College	University of Florida
Turned professional	1960
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	9
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	6
PGA Tour Champions	3
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	5th: 1965
PGA Championship	T3: 1967
U.S. Open	10th: 1963
The Open Championship	DNP

Sikes was born in Wildwood, Florida and was raised in Jacksonville. He attended Andrew Jackson High School.

Sikes enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he played for the Florida Gators' golf team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1951 to 1953. He was recognized as an All-American 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, which was later renamed the PGA Tour.

Sikes won the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship in 1958 while in law school.

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, when he won two events and was fifth on the money list. He was also the 54-hole leader at the PGA Championship and finished one shot out of the playoff, in a tie for third with Jack Nicklaus. Due to disputes with the PGA of America, the championship was nearly boycotted by the top tournament players. Sikes played on the Ryder Cup team in 1969 at Royal Birkdale.

Sikes later represented caddies on tour in 1970 and was instrumental in helping organize the Senior PGA Tour, later renamed the Champions Tour. He won three times on the senior tour, the first at the rain-shortened Hilton Head Seniors International in 1982, which Sikes and Miller Barber were leading when play was stopped.

Sikes died in Jacksonville at age 58 in late 1987.

Sikes was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."

Sikes was posthumously inducted into the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

PGA Tour wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Mar 24, 1963	Doral C.C. Open Invitational	76-70-67-70=283	−5	1 stroke	Sam Snead
2	Jun 13, 1965	Cleveland Open Invitational	68-70-68-66=272	−12	1 stroke	Tony Lema
3	Mar 19, 1967	Jacksonville Open	67-69-70-73=279	−9	1 stroke	Bill Collins
4	Sep 17, 1967	Philadelphia Golf Classic	71-68-69-68=276	−12	2 strokes	George Archer
5	Mar 17, 1968	Florida Citrus Open Invitational	71-67-70-66=274	−14	1 stroke	Tom Weiskopf
6	Jul 28, 1968	Minnesota Golf Classic	71-66-71-64=272	−12	1 stroke	Ken Still

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1962	Houston Classic	Bobby Nichols,   Jack Nicklaus	Nichols won with eagle on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff; Nichols: +1 (71), Sikes: +1 (71), Nicklaus: +6 (76)
2	1973	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Lanny Wadkins	Lost to par on first extra hole

Senior PGA Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Oct 24, 1982	Hilton Head Seniors International	69-69=138*	−6	Shared title with   Miller Barber
2	Jun 3, 1984	Gatlin Brothers Seniors Golf Classic	69-73-68=210	−6	1 stroke	Rod Funseth
3	Sep 9, 1984	United Virginia Bank Seniors	67-69-71=207	−9	1 stroke	Lee Elder

*Note: The 1982 Hilton Head Seniors International was shortened to 36 holes due to weather.

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	1984	Daytona Beach Seniors Golf Classic	Orville Moody,   Arnold Palmer	Moody won with birdie on second extra hole
2	1985	Citizens Union Senior Golf Classic	Lee Elder,   Orville Moody,   Walt Zembriski	Elder won with birdie on third extra hole Moody eliminated by birdie on second hole

Note: Sikes never played in The Open Championship.

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)

• List of American Ryder Cup golfers
• List of Florida Gators men's golfers on the PGA Tour
• List of Levin College of Law graduates
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members