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1969 PGA Tour season
Duration	January 9, 1969 – December 7, 1969
Number of official events	49
Most wins	Billy Casper (3); Raymond Floyd (3); Dave Hill (3); Jack Nicklaus (3)
Money list	Frank Beard
PGA Player of the Year	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	Charlie Sifford (2)
Jan 12	Alameda County Open	California	50,000	Dick Lotz (1)	New tournament Alternate event
Jan 20	Kaiser International Open Invitational	California	67,500	Miller Barber (4)
Jan 27	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	125,000	George Archer (6)	Pro-Am
Feb 2	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	California	150,000	Jack Nicklaus (28)
Feb 9	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	100,000	Billy Casper (41)	Pro-Am
Feb 16	Phoenix Open Invitational	Arizona	100,000	Gene Littler (21)
Feb 23	Tucson Open Invitational	Arizona	100,000	Lee Trevino (3)
Mar 2	Doral Open Invitational	Florida	150,000	Tom Shaw (1)
Mar 9	Florida Citrus Open Invitational	Florida	115,000	Ken Still (1)
Mar 18	Monsanto Open Invitational	Florida	100,000	Jim Colbert (1)
Mar 23	Greater Jacksonville Open	Florida	100,000	Raymond Floyd (3)
Mar 30	National Airlines Open Invitational	Florida	200,000	Bunky Henry (1)	New tournament
Apr 6	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	160,000	Gene Littler (22)
Apr 13	Masters Tournament	Georgia	100,000	George Archer (7)	Major championship
Apr 14	Magnolia Classic	Mississippi	20,000	Larry Mowry (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Apr 20	Tournament of Champions	California	150,000	Gary Player (12)	Winners-only event
Apr 20	Azalea Open Invitational	North Carolina	25,000	Dale Douglass (1)	Alternate event
Apr 20	Tallahassee Open Invitational	Florida	25,000	Chuck Courtney (2)	New tournament Alternate event
Apr 27	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	100,000	Bruce Devlin (4)
May 4	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Louisiana	100,000	Larry Hinson (1)
May 11	Texas Open Invitational	Texas	100,000	Deane Beman (1)
May 18	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	125,000	Gardner Dickinson (6)	Invitational
May 25	Atlanta Classic	Georgia	115,000	Bert Yancey (5)
Jun 1	Memphis Open Invitational	Tennessee	150,000	Dave Hill (5)
Jun 8	Western Open	Illinois	130,000	Billy Casper (42)
Jun 15	U.S. Open	Texas	205,000	Orville Moody (1)	Major championship
Jun 22	Kemper Open	North Carolina	150,000	Dale Douglass (2)
Jun 29	Cleveland Open Invitational	Ohio	110,000	Charles Coody (2)
Jul 6	Buick Open Invitational	Michigan	125,000	Dave Hill (6)
Jul 12	The Open Championship	England	£30,000	Tony Jacklin (2)	Major championship^[c]
Jul 13	Minnesota Golf Classic	Minnesota	100,000	Frank Beard (7)	Alternate event
Jul 20	IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic	Pennsylvania	150,000	Dave Hill (7)
Jul 27	American Golf Classic	Ohio	125,000	Raymond Floyd (4)
Aug 3	Westchester Classic	New York	250,000	Frank Beard (8)
Aug 10	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	100,000	Ken Still (2)
Aug 17	PGA Championship	Ohio	175,000	Raymond Floyd (5)	Major championship
Aug 17	Indian Ridge Hospital Open Invitational	Massachusetts	37,000	Monty Kaser (1)	New tournament Alternate event
Aug 24	AVCO Golf Classic	Massachusetts	150,000	Tom Shaw (2)	New tournament
Sep 2	Greater Hartford Open Invitational	Connecticut	100,000	Bob Lunn (3)
Sep 7	Michigan Golf Classic	Michigan	100,000	Larry Ziegler (1)	New tournament
Sep 28	Alcan Open	Oregon	275,000	Billy Casper (43)	New to PGA Tour
Sep 28	Robinson Open Golf Classic	Illinois	75,000	Bob Goalby (9)	Alternate event
Oct 19	Sahara Invitational	Nevada	100,000	Jack Nicklaus (29)
Oct 26	San Francisco Open Invitational	California	100,000	Steve Spray (1)
Nov 3	Kaiser International Open Invitational	California	140,000	Jack Nicklaus (30)
Nov 9	Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	125,000	Bruce Crampton (7)
Nov 30	Heritage Golf Classic	South Carolina	100,000	Arnold Palmer (55)	New tournament Invitational
Dec 7	Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic	Florida	125,000	Arnold Palmer (56)	New tournament
Dec 7	West End Classic	Bahamas	25,000	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	Orville Moody and Lee Trevino	Team event
Oct 5	World Cup Individual Trophy	Singapore	6,300	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	Frank Beard	175,223
2	Dave Hill	156,432
3	Jack Nicklaus	140,167
4	Gary Player	123,897
5	Bruce Crampton	118,955
6	Gene Littler	112,737
7	Lee Trevino	112,417
8	Raymond Floyd	109,956
9	Arnold Palmer	105,128
10	Billy Casper	104,689

Awards

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

Notes

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

References

^ "Pro golf struggle is settled; PGA forms tourney group". Milwaukee Journal. December 14, 1968. p. 18. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
^ Gorant, Jim (August 8, 2018). "War for the Tour: The day the PGA Championship nearly died". Golf Magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
^ "1969 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "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.