1966 PGA Tour

1966 PGA Tour season

Duration	January 6, 1966 (1966-01-06) – November 27, 1966 (1966-11-27)
Number of official events	40
Most wins	Billy Casper (4)
Money list	Billy Casper
PGA Player of the Year	Billy Casper
← 1965 1967 →

The 1966 PGA Tour was the 51st season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1966 season. ^{[1] [2]}

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner [lower-alpha 1]	Notes
Jan 9	Los Angeles Open	California	70,000	Arnold Palmer (46)
Jan 16	San Diego Open Invitational	California	45,000	Billy Casper (29)
Jan 23	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	104,500	Don Massengale (1)	Pro-Am
Jan 31	Lucky International Open	California	57,000	Ken Venturi (14)
Feb 6	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	80,000	Doug Sanders (15)	Pro-Am
Feb 14	Phoenix Open Invitational	Arizona	60,000	Dudley Wysong (1)
Feb 20	Tucson Open Invitational	Arizona	45,000	Joe Campbell (3)
Mar 7	Pensacola Open Invitational	Florida	50,000	Gay Brewer (7)
Mar 13	Doral Open Invitational	Florida	100,000	Phil Rodgers (4)
Mar 20	Florida Citrus Open Invitational	Florida	110,000	Lionel Hebert (5)	New tournament
Mar 27	Jacksonville Open	Florida	82,000	Doug Sanders (16)
Apr 3	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	100,000	Doug Sanders (17)
Apr 11	Masters Tournament	Georgia	100,000	Jack Nicklaus (18)	Major championship
Apr 17	Azalea Open Invitational	North Carolina	22,800	Bert Yancey (1)	Alternate event
Apr 18	Tournament of Champions	Nevada	100,000	Arnold Palmer (47)	Winners-only event
Apr 26	Dallas Open Invitational	Texas	85,000	Roberto De Vicenzo (5)
May 1	Texas Open Invitational	Texas	80,000	Harold Henning (1)
May 16	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Louisiana	100,000	Frank Beard (3)
May 22	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	110,000	Bruce Devlin (2)	Invitational
May 29	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	Oklahoma	42,500	Tony Lema (12)
Jun 5	Memphis Open Invitational	Tennessee	100,000	Bert Yancey (2)
Jun 12	Buick Open Invitational	Michigan	100,000	Phil Rodgers (5)
Jun 20	U.S. Open	California	150,000	Billy Casper (30)	Major championship
Jun 26	Western Open	Illinois	100,000	Billy Casper (31)
Jul 9	The Open Championship	Scotland	£15,000	Jack Nicklaus (19)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
Jul 17	Minnesota Golf Classic	Minnesota	100,000	Bobby Nichols (7)
Jul 24	PGA Championship	Ohio	150,000	Al Geiberger (4)	Major championship
Jul 31	500 Festival Open Invitation	Indiana	100,000	Billy Casper (32)
Aug 7	Cleveland Open	Ohio	100,000	R. H. Sikes (2)
Aug 14	Thunderbird Classic	New Jersey	100,000	Mason Rudolph (4)
Aug 21	Insurance City Open Invitational	Connecticut	100,000	Art Wall Jr. (13)
Aug 28	Philadelphia Golf Classic	Pennsylvania	110,000	Don January (5)
Sep 3	Carling World Open	England	175,000	Bruce Devlin (3)
Sep 18	Portland Open Invitational	Oregon	50,000	Bert Yancey (3)
Sep 25	Greater Seattle-Everett Classic	Washington	50,000	Homero Blancas (1)
Oct 2	Canadian Open	Canada	100,000	Don Massengale (2)
Oct 15	Sahara Invitational	Nevada	100,000	Jack Nicklaus (20)
Oct 30	Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	42,500	Ted Makalena (1)
Nov 20 May 8	Houston Champions International	Texas	110,000	Arnold Palmer (48)
Nov 27	Cajun Classic Open Invitational	Louisiana	34,500	Jacky Cupit (4)

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
Nov 14	Canada Cup	Japan	6,300	Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer	Team event
	Canada Cup Individual Trophy			George Knudson

Money list

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

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Billy Casper	121,945
2	Jack Nicklaus	111,419
3	Arnold Palmer	110,468
4	Doug Sanders	80,096
5	Gay Brewer	75,688
6	Phil Rodgers	68,360
7	Gene Littler	68,345
8	R. H. Sikes	67,349
9	Frank Beard	66,041
10	Al Geiberger	63,220

Awards

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

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. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

1. "1966 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
2. Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 656–62. ISBN   978-1-60239-302-8.
3. "Casper Winnings Top For Year" . Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. November 29, 1966. p. 15. Retrieved November 10, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Casper Is Named Golfer Of Year; Billy Burke is Selected for Hall of Fame by P.G.A." The New York Times. UPI. November 2, 1966. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
5. Cathey, John (December 21, 1966). "Gay Brewer Set For GGO Action" . The Greensboro Record. Greensboro, North Carolina. p. 26 (C4 in paper). Retrieved November 10, 2023– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Official website