1969 PGA Tour

1969 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 9, 1969 (1969-01-09) – December 7, 1969 (1969-12-07)
Number of official events49
Most winsUnited States Billy Casper (3)
United States Raymond Floyd (3)
United States Dave Hill (3)
United States Jack Nicklaus (3)
Money listUnited States Frank Beard
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Orville Moody
← 1968
1970 →

The 1969 PGA Tour was the 54th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the first season since separating from the PGA of America.

PGA of America separation

The 1969 season is generally regarded as the first season of an independent PGA Tour.[1] The tour began to break off from the PGA of America in August 1968. The players formed a Tournament Players Division within the PGA of America, "a freestanding corporation run by a 10-member tournament policy board of four players, three PGA executives and three consulting businessmen."[2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1969 season.[3]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$) 		Winner[a] Notes
Jan 12 Los Angeles Open California 100,000 United States Charlie Sifford (2)
Jan 12 Alameda County Open California 50,000 United States Dick Lotz (1) New tournament
Alternate event
Jan 20 Kaiser International Open Invitational California 67,500 United States Miller Barber (4)
Jan 27 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 125,000 United States George Archer (6) Pro-Am
Feb 2 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational California 150,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (28)
Feb 9 Bob Hope Desert Classic California 100,000 United States Billy Casper (41) Pro-Am
Feb 16 Phoenix Open Invitational Arizona 100,000 United States Gene Littler (21)
Feb 23 Tucson Open Invitational Arizona 100,000 United States Lee Trevino (3)
Mar 2 Doral Open Invitational Florida 150,000 United States Tom Shaw (1)
Mar 9 Florida Citrus Open Invitational Florida 115,000 United States Ken Still (1)
Mar 18 Monsanto Open Invitational Florida 100,000 United States Jim Colbert (1)
Mar 23 Greater Jacksonville Open Florida 100,000 United States Raymond Floyd (3)
Mar 30 National Airlines Open Invitational Florida 200,000 United States Bunky Henry (1) New tournament
Apr 6 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 160,000 United States Gene Littler (22)
Apr 13 Masters Tournament Georgia 100,000 United States George Archer (7) Major championship
Apr 14 Magnolia Classic Mississippi 20,000 United States Larry Mowry (n/a) Second Tour[b]
Apr 20 Tournament of Champions California 150,000 South Africa Gary Player (12) Winners-only event
Apr 20 Azalea Open Invitational North Carolina 25,000 United States Dale Douglass (1) Alternate event
Apr 20 Tallahassee Open Invitational Florida 25,000 United States Chuck Courtney (2) New tournament
Alternate event
Apr 27 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Texas 100,000 Australia Bruce Devlin (4)
May 4 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational Louisiana 100,000 United States Larry Hinson (1)
May 11 Texas Open Invitational Texas 100,000 United States Deane Beman (1)
May 18 Colonial National Invitation Texas 125,000 United States Gardner Dickinson (6) Invitational
May 25 Atlanta Classic Georgia 115,000 United States Bert Yancey (5)
Jun 1 Memphis Open Invitational Tennessee 150,000 United States Dave Hill (5)
Jun 8 Western Open Illinois 130,000 United States Billy Casper (42)
Jun 15 U.S. Open Texas 205,000 United States Orville Moody (1) Major championship
Jun 22 Kemper Open North Carolina 150,000 United States Dale Douglass (2)
Jun 29 Cleveland Open Invitational Ohio 110,000 United States Charles Coody (2)
Jul 6 Buick Open Invitational Michigan 125,000 United States Dave Hill (6)
Jul 12 The Open Championship England £30,000 England Tony Jacklin (2) Major championship[c]
Jul 13 Minnesota Golf Classic Minnesota 100,000 United States Frank Beard (7) Alternate event
Jul 20 IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic Pennsylvania 150,000 United States Dave Hill (7)
Jul 27 American Golf Classic Ohio 125,000 United States Raymond Floyd (4)
Aug 3 Westchester Classic New York 250,000 United States Frank Beard (8)
Aug 10 Greater Milwaukee Open Wisconsin 100,000 United States Ken Still (2)
Aug 17 PGA Championship Ohio 175,000 United States Raymond Floyd (5) Major championship
Aug 17 Indian Ridge Hospital Open Invitational Massachusetts 37,000 United States Monty Kaser (1) New tournament
Alternate event
Aug 24 AVCO Golf Classic Massachusetts 150,000 United States Tom Shaw (2) New tournament
Sep 2 Greater Hartford Open Invitational Connecticut 100,000 United States Bob Lunn (3)
Sep 7 Michigan Golf Classic Michigan 100,000 United States Larry Ziegler (1) New tournament
Sep 28 Alcan Open Oregon 275,000 United States Billy Casper (43) New to PGA Tour
Sep 28 Robinson Open Golf Classic Illinois 75,000 United States Bob Goalby (9) Alternate event
Oct 19 Sahara Invitational Nevada 100,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (29)
Oct 26 San Francisco Open Invitational California 100,000 United States Steve Spray (1)
Nov 3 Kaiser International Open Invitational California 140,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (30)
Nov 9 Hawaiian Open Hawaii 125,000 Australia Bruce Crampton (7)
Nov 30 Heritage Golf Classic South Carolina 100,000 United States Arnold Palmer (55) New tournament
Invitational
Dec 7 Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic Florida 125,000 United States Arnold Palmer (56) New tournament
Dec 7 West End Classic Bahamas 25,000 United States Jim Wiechers (1) Alternate event

Unofficial events

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 20 Ryder Cup England n/a Tie ( Team USA retain) Team event
Oct 5 World Cup Singapore 6,300 United States Orville Moody and
United States Lee Trevino 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy United States Lee Trevino

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[4]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 United States Frank Beard 175,223
2 United States Dave Hill 156,432
3 United States Jack Nicklaus 140,167
4 South Africa Gary Player 123,897
5 Australia Bruce Crampton 118,955
6 United States Gene Littler 112,737
7 United States Lee Trevino 112,417
8 United States Raymond Floyd 109,956
9 United States Arnold Palmer 105,128
10 United States Billy Casper 104,689

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
PGA Player of the Year United States Orville Moody [5]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy) United States Dave Hill [6]

Notes

  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

  1. ^ "Pro golf struggle is settled; PGA forms tourney group". Milwaukee Journal. December 14, 1968. p. 18. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Gorant, Jim (August 8, 2018). "War for the Tour: The day the PGA Championship nearly died". Golf Magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "1969 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Beard top PGA money man". The Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu, Hawaii. December 10, 1969. p. 32 (C-4 in paper). Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Golfer of the year". The Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Associated Press. November 19, 1969. p. 13. Retrieved March 20, 2013 – via Google News Archive.
  6. ^ "DePaula Indicted In Ring Probe | Other Sports". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. December 17, 1969. p. 72 (4-D in paper). Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.