The 1976 PGA Tour was the 61st season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the eighth season since separating from the PGA of America.

1976 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 8, 1976 (1976-01-08) – November 7, 1976 (1976-11-07)
Number of official events45
Most winsUnited States Ben Crenshaw (3)
United States Johnny Miller (3)
United States Hubert Green (3)
Money listUnited States Jack Nicklaus
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Jack Nicklaus
1975
1977

Schedule edit

The following table lists official events during the 1976 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$)
Winner(s)[a] Notes
Jan 11 NBC Tucson Open Arizona 200,000   Johnny Miller (16)
Jan 18 Phoenix Open Arizona 200,000   Bob Gilder (1)
Jan 25 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 185,000   Ben Crenshaw (2) Pro-Am
Feb 1 Hawaiian Open Hawaii 230,000   Ben Crenshaw (3)
Feb 8 Bob Hope Desert Classic California 180,000   Johnny Miller (17) Pro-Am
Feb 15 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational California 180,000   J. C. Snead (5)
Feb 22 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open California 185,000   Hale Irwin (6)
Mar 1 Tournament Players Championship Florida 300,000   Jack Nicklaus (60) Special event
Mar 7 Florida Citrus Open Florida 200,000   Hale Irwin (7)
Mar 14 Doral-Eastern Open Florida 200,000   Hubert Green (9)
Mar 21 Greater Jacksonville Open Florida 175,000   Hubert Green (10)
Mar 28 Sea Pines Heritage Classic South Carolina 215,000   Hubert Green (11) Invitational
Apr 4 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 230,000   Al Geiberger (8)
Apr 11 Masters Tournament Georgia 200,000   Raymond Floyd (7) Major championship
Apr 11 Magnolia Classic Mississippi 35,000   Dennis Meyer (n/a) Second Tour[b]
Apr 18 MONY Tournament of Champions California 225,000   Don January (10) Winners-only event
Apr 18 Tallahassee Open Florida 80,000   Gary Koch (1) Alternate event
Apr 25 First NBC New Orleans Open Louisiana 175,000   Larry Ziegler (3)
May 2 Houston Open Texas 200,000   Lee Elder (2)
May 9 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Texas 200,000   Mark Hayes (1)
May 16 Colonial National Invitation Texas 200,000   Lee Trevino (21) Invitational
May 23 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic Tennessee 200,000   Gibby Gilbert (2)
May 30 Memorial Tournament Ohio 200,000   Roger Maltbie (3) New tournament
Invitational
Jun 6 IVB-Bicentennial Golf Classic Pennsylvania 200,000   Tom Kite (1)
Jun 13 Kemper Open North Carolina 250,000   Joe Inman (1)
Jun 20 U.S. Open Georgia 210,000   Jerry Pate (1) Major championship
Jun 27 Western Open Illinois 200,000   Al Geiberger (9)
Jul 4 Greater Milwaukee Open Wisconsin 130,000   Dave Hill (13)
Jul 10 The Open Championship England £75,000   Johnny Miller (18) Major championship[c]
Jul 11 Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open Illinois 100,000   John Lister (1) Alternate event
Jul 18 American Express Westchester Classic New York 300,000   David Graham (2)
Jul 25 Canadian Open Canada 200,000   Jerry Pate (2)
Aug 1 Pleasant Valley Classic Massachusetts 200,000   Buddy Allin (5)
Aug 8 B.C. Open New York 200,000   Bob Wynn (1)
Aug 16 PGA Championship Maryland 250,000   Dave Stockton (10) Major championship
Aug 22 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open Connecticut 210,000   Rik Massengale (2)
Aug 29 American Golf Classic Ohio 200,000   David Graham (3)
Aug 29 Buick Open Michigan 60,000   Ed Sabo (n/a) Second Tour[b]
Sep 5 World Series of Golf Ohio 400,000   Jack Nicklaus (61) Upgraded to official event
Limited-field event
Sep 12 World Open Golf Championship North Carolina 200,000   Raymond Floyd (8)
Sep 19 Ohio Kings Island Open Ohio 150,000   Ben Crenshaw (4)
Sep 26 Kaiser International Open Invitational California 175,000   J. C. Snead (6)
Oct 3 Sahara Invitational Nevada 135,000   George Archer (12)
Oct 17 San Antonio Texas Open Texas 125,000   Butch Baird (2)
Oct 24 Southern Open Georgia 125,000   Mac McLendon (2)
Nov 1 Pensacola Open Florida 125,000   Mark Hayes (2)
Nov 7 Walt Disney World National Team Championship Florida 200,000   Woody Blackburn (1) and
  Billy Kratzert (1)
Team event

Unofficial events edit

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
($)
Winner(s) Notes
Dec 12 World Cup California 4,200   Seve Ballesteros and
  Manuel Piñero
Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy 2,100   Ernesto Pérez Acosta

Money list edit

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[2]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1   Jack Nicklaus 266,438
2   Ben Crenshaw 257,759
3   Hale Irwin 252,718
4   Hubert Green 228,031
5   Al Geiberger 194,821
6   J. C. Snead 192,645
7   Raymond Floyd 178,318
8   David Graham 176,174
9   Don January 163,622
10   Jerry Pate 153,102

Awards edit

Award Winner Ref.
PGA Player of the Year   Jack Nicklaus [3]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)   Don January [4]

Notes edit

  1. ^ The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.
  2. ^ a b Official money; unofficial win.
  3. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References edit

  1. ^ "1977 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "PGA Money leaders". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. December 26, 1976. p. 92. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Green, Bob (December 26, 1976). "Nicklaus wins player of year, not major events". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. p. 17. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Greene, Jerry (December 23, 1976). "Golf". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. p. 78 (3-C in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links edit