Early years and amateur career

Born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Hayes played collegiately at Oklahoma State University, where he was a two-time All-American. He won the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1972.

Professional career

Hayes won three times on the PGA Tour: the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and Pensacola Open in 1976 and the Tournament Players Championship in 1977. He also won the PGA Tour-sponsored Tallahassee Open in 1986 and three Oklahoma Opens. Hayes played on the winning Ryder Cup team in 1979 only after Tom Watson gave up his spot.

Hayes had his best finish in a major championship at the U.S. Open in 1980, where he began the final round of play two shots out of the lead but shot a final round 74 to finish T6. He was also the first round leader at the 1975 PGA Championship, but finished T22. In the second round of The Open Championship in 1977, Hayes shot 63 at the Ailsa Course at Turnberry to establish a new single round record at The Open Championship by two strokes. The previous record of 65 was set by Henry Cotton in the second round in 1934 at Royal St. George's.

After turning 50, Hayes joined the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour), but he has not won at the level, and he has not played a full schedule since 2001. His best finish was T10 at the 2001 Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley.

Hayes is well known for his trademark bucket caps.

Business career

In the late 1980s, Hayes began preparing for a career in golf course design and construction. In 1990, he established a golf course design firm. His projects have been built in Oklahoma and neighboring states.

Amateur wins (1)

• 1972 Sunnehanna Amateur

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up	Winner's share ($)
1	May 9, 1976	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	66-67-71-69=273	-11	2 strokes	Don Bies	40,000
2	Nov 1, 1976	Pensacola Open	68-72-69-66=275	-9	2 strokes	Lee Elder	25,000
3	Mar 20, 1977	Tournament Players Championship	72-74-71-72=289	+1	2 strokes	Mike McCullough	60,000

PGA Tour playoff record (0-2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1979	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Andy Bean, Lon Hinkle	Hinkle won with birdie on third extra hole Bean eliminated with par on second hole
2	1981	Greater Greensboro Open	Larry Nelson	Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (4)

• 1976 Oklahoma Open
• 1986 Tallahassee Open
• 1988 Oklahoma Open
• 1993 Oklahoma Open

Results in major championships

Tournament	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T33	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	T40	DNP	T14	T41	T35	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T9	T14	T30
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	T22	T15	T19	CUT	T62

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	T10	T20	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T6	T14	CUT	T26	T43	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	T32	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T59	T33	T34	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	3
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	1	3	13	8
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	4
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	0	3	11	7
Totals	0	0	0	0	3	10	34	22

• Most consecutive cuts made - 10 (1974 U.S. Open - 1978 Open Championship)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 1 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1972 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1979 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]