Dan Sikes

American professional golfer (1929–1987

Daniel David Sikes, Jr. (December 7, 1929 – December 20, 1987) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. 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.

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. 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 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.