1981 PGA Tour

The 1981 PGA Tour, titled as the 1981 TPA Tour, was the 66th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 13th season since separating from the PGA of America.

1981 PGA Tour season

Duration	January 8, 1981 (1981-01-08) – October 25, 1981 (1981-10-25)
Number of official events	44
Most wins	Bill Rogers (4)
Money list	Tom Kite
PGA Player of the Year	Bill Rogers
Rookie of the Year	Mark O'Meara
← 1980 1982 →

Changes for 1981

The tour changed its name to the TPA Tour in late August, for the "Tournament Players Association".^[1][2] After less than seven months, it reverted to the PGA Tour in mid-March 1982.^[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1981 season.^[4][5]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner(s)[a]	Notes
Jan 11	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	Arizona	300,000	Johnny Miller (20)
Jan 18	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	250,000	Bruce Lietzke (6)	Pro-Am
Jan 25	Phoenix Open	Arizona	300,000	David Graham (6)
Feb 2	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	225,000	John Cook (1)	Pro-Am
Feb 8	Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego Open	California	250,000	Bruce Lietzke (7)
Feb 14	Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	325,000	Hale Irwin (12)
Feb 22	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	California	300,000	Johnny Miller (21)
Mar 1	Bay Hill Classic	Florida	300,000	Andy Bean (7)
Mar 8	American Motors Inverrary Classic	Florida	300,000	Tom Kite (3)
Mar 15	Doral-Eastern Open	Florida	250,000	Raymond Floyd (13)
Mar 23	Tournament Players Championship	Florida	400,000	Raymond Floyd (14)	Special event
Mar 29	Sea Pines Heritage	South Carolina	300,000	Bill Rogers (2)	Invitational
Apr 5	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	300,000	Larry Nelson (4)
Apr 12	Masters Tournament	Georgia	365,000	Tom Watson (26)	Major championship
Apr 12	Magnolia Classic	Mississippi	75,000	Tom Jones (n/a)	Second Tour[b]
Apr 19	MONY Tournament of Champions	California	300,000	Lee Trevino (28)	Winners-only event
Apr 19	Tallahassee Open	Florida	100,000	Dave Eichelberger (4)	Alternate event
Apr 26	USF&G New Orleans Open	Louisiana	350,000	Tom Watson (27)
May 2	Michelob-Houston Open	Texas	262,500	Ron Streck (2)
May 10	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	300,000	Bruce Lietzke (8)
May 17	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	300,000	Fuzzy Zoeller (3)	Invitational
May 24	Memorial Tournament	Ohio	350,000	Keith Fergus (1)	Invitational
May 31	Kemper Open	Maryland	400,000	Craig Stadler (3)
Jun 7	Atlanta Classic	Georgia	300,000	Tom Watson (28)
Jun 14	Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic	New York	400,000	Raymond Floyd (15)
Jun 21	U.S. Open	Pennsylvania	360,000	David Graham (7)	Major championship
Jun 28	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	Tennessee	300,000	Jerry Pate (6)
Jul 5	Western Open	Illinois	300,000	Ed Fiori (2)
Jul 12	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	250,000	Jay Haas (2)
Jul 19	The Open Championship	England	£200,000	Bill Rogers (3)	Major championship[c]
Jul 19	Quad Cities Open	Illinois	200,000	Dave Barr (1)	Alternate event
Jul 26	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	Virginia	300,000	John Mahaffey (6)
Aug 2	Canadian Open	Canada	425,000	Peter Oosterhuis (1)
Aug 9	PGA Championship	Georgia	400,000	Larry Nelson (5)	Major championship
Aug 16	Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open	Connecticut	300,000	Hubert Green (17)
Aug 23	Buick Open	Michigan	350,000	Hale Irwin (13)
Aug 30	World Series of Golf	Ohio	400,000	Bill Rogers (4)	Limited-field event
Sep 6	B.C. Open	New York	275,000	Jay Haas (3)
Sep 13	Pleasant Valley Jimmy Fund Classic	Massachusetts	300,000	Jack Renner (2)
Sep 20	LaJet Classic	Texas	350,000	Tom Weiskopf (15)	New tournament
Sep 27	Hall of Fame	North Carolina	250,000	Morris Hatalsky (1)
Oct 1	Texas Open	Texas	250,000	Bill Rogers (5)
Oct 11	Southern Open	Georgia	200,000	J. C. Snead (7)
Oct 18	Pensacola Open	Florida	200,000	Jerry Pate (7)
Oct 25	Walt Disney World National Team Championship	Florida	400,000	Vance Heafner (1) and Mike Holland (1)	Team 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	Team USA	Team event
Dec 6	JCPenney Mixed Team Classic	Florida	550,000	Beth Daniel and Tom Kite	Team event

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[6][7]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Tom Kite	375,699
2	Raymond Floyd	359,360
3	Tom Watson	347,660
4	Bruce Lietzke	343,446
5	Bill Rogers	315,411
6	Jerry Pate	280,627
7	Hale Irwin	276,499
8	Craig Stadler	218,829
9	Curtis Strange	201,513
10	Larry Nelson	193,342

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Player of the Year	Bill Rogers	[8]
Rookie of the Year	Mark O'Meara	[9]
Scoring leader (PGA Tour – Byron Nelson Award)	Tom Kite	[10]
Scoring leader (PGA – Vardon Trophy)	Tom Kite	[7]

See also

• 1981 Senior PGA Tour

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.