Wikipedia

1979 PGA Tour

The 1979 PGA Tour was the 64th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 11th season since separating from the PGA of America.

1979 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 11, 1979 (1979-01-11) – October 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)
Number of official events44
Most winsUnited States Tom Watson (5)
Money listUnited States Tom Watson
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Tom Watson
← 1978
1980 →

Schedule edit

The following table lists official events during the 1979 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$) 		Winner(s)[a] Notes
Jan 14 Bob Hope Desert Classic California 300,000   John Mahaffey (4) Pro-Am
Jan 22 Phoenix Open Arizona 250,000   Ben Crenshaw (6)
Jan 28 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational California 250,000   Fuzzy Zoeller (1)
Feb 4 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 300,000   Lon Hinkle (2) Pro-Am
Feb 11 Hawaiian Open Hawaii 300,000   Hubert Green (15)
Feb 18 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Arizona 250,000   Bruce Lietzke (4)
Feb 25 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open California 250,000   Lanny Wadkins (6)
Mar 4 Bay Hill Citrus Classic Florida 250,000   Bob Byman (1)
Mar 11 Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic Florida 300,000   Larry Nelson (1)
Mar 18 Doral-Eastern Open Florida 250,000   Mark McCumber (1)
Mar 25 Tournament Players Championship Florida 440,000   Lanny Wadkins (7) Special event
Apr 1 Sea Pines Heritage Classic South Carolina 300,000   Tom Watson (14) Invitational
Apr 8 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 250,000   Raymond Floyd (11)
Apr 15 Masters Tournament Georgia 299,625   Fuzzy Zoeller (2) Major championship
Apr 15 Magnolia Classic Mississippi 50,000   Bobby Walzel (n/a) Second Tour[b]
Apr 22 MONY Tournament of Champions California 300,000   Tom Watson (15) Winners-only event
Apr 22 Tallahassee Open Florida 100,000   Chi-Chi Rodríguez (8) Alternate event
Apr 29 First NBC New Orleans Open Louisiana 250,000   Hubert Green (16)
May 6 Houston Open Texas 300,000   Wayne Levi (2)
May 13 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Texas 300,000   Tom Watson (16)
May 20 Colonial National Invitation Texas 300,000   Al Geiberger (11) Invitational
May 27 Memorial Tournament Ohio 300,000   Tom Watson (17) Invitational
Jun 3 Kemper Open North Carolina 350,000   Jerry McGee (3)
Jun 10 Atlanta Classic Georgia 300,000   Andy Bean (5)
Jun 17 U.S. Open Ohio 325,000   Hale Irwin (11) Major championship
Jun 24 Canadian Open Canada 350,000   Lee Trevino (24)
Jul 1 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic Tennessee 300,000   Gil Morgan (4)
Jul 8 Western Open Illinois 300,000   Larry Nelson (2)
Jul 15 Greater Milwaukee Open Wisconsin 200,000   Calvin Peete (1)
Jul 21 The Open Championship England £155,000   Seve Ballesteros (2) Major championship[c]
Jul 22 Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open Illinois 200,000   D. A. Weibring (1) Alternate event
Jul 29 IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic Pennsylvania 250,000   Lou Graham (4)
Aug 5 PGA Championship Michigan 350,000   David Graham (4) Major championship
Aug 12 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open Connecticut 300,000   Jerry McGee (4)
Aug 19 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic New York 400,000   Jack Renner (1)
Aug 26 Colgate Hall of Fame Classic North Carolina 250,000   Tom Watson (18)
Sep 2 B.C. Open New York 275,000   Howard Twitty (1)
Sep 9 American Optical Classic Massachusetts 250,000   Lou Graham (5)
Sep 16 Buick-Goodwrench Open Michigan 150,000   John Fought (1)
Sep 23 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic California 300,000   John Fought (2)
Sep 30 World Series of Golf Ohio 400,000   Lon Hinkle (3) Limited-field event
Oct 7 San Antonio Texas Open Texas 250,000   Lou Graham (6)
Oct 14 Southern Open Georgia 200,000   Ed Fiori (1)
Oct 21 Pensacola Open Florida 200,000   Curtis Strange (1)
Oct 28 Walt Disney World National Team Championship Florida 250,000   George Burns (1) and
  Ben Crenshaw (7)		 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
Sep 16 Ryder Cup West Virginia n/a   Team USA Team event
Nov 11 World Cup Greece n/a   Hale Irwin and
  John Mahaffey 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy   Hale Irwin

Money list edit

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1   Tom Watson 462,636
2   Larry Nelson 281,022
3   Lon Hinkle 247,693
4   Lee Trevino 238,732
5   Ben Crenshaw 236,770
6   Bill Rogers 230,500
7   Andy Bean 208,253
8   Bruce Lietzke 198,439
9   Fuzzy Zoeller 196,951
10   Lanny Wadkins 195,710

Awards edit

Award Winner Ref.
PGA Player of the Year   Tom Watson [4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)   Tom Watson [5]

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. ^ Official money; unofficial win.
  3. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References edit

  1. ^ "1980 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Money leaders". Daily News. New York, New York. November 25, 1979. p. 484. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Shriver, Jerry (October 14, 1979). "Watson Holds Off The Young Lions". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. p. 173. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Tom Watson named PGA player of year". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. November 8, 1979. p. 75. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Greenberg, Don (November 1, 1979). "Watson Likes to Keep Things Elementary". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 71. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links edit

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