1976 LPGA Tour

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1976 LPGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 30, 1976 (1976-1-30) – November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27)
Number of official events31
Most wins6 Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin
Money leader Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin
Player of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin
Rookie of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Bonnie Lauer
← 1975
1977 →

The 1976 LPGA Tour was the 27th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 30 to November 27. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Judy Rankin won the most tournaments, six. She also led the money list with earnings of $150,734.

Contents

The season saw the first official tournaments played outside North America; the Colgate European Open in England, the LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic in Japan, the Colgate-Hong Kong Open in Hong Kong, and the Colgate Far East Championship in the Philippines. There were four first-time winners in 1976: Pat Bradley, Hisako "Chako" Higuchi, the first winner from Japan, Sally Little, the first winner from Africa, and Jan Stephenson.

The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1976 season. [1] "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.

DateTournamentLocationWinnerScorePurse ($)1st prize ($)
Feb 1 Burdine's Invitational Florida Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (14)213 (−3)40,0005,700
Feb 8 Sarah Coventry Naples Classic Florida Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jan Stephenson (1)218 (+2)60,0008,500
Feb 15 Orange Blossom Classic Florida Flag of the United States.svg JoAnne Carner (14)209 (−7)45,0006,400
Feb 22 Bent Tree Classic Florida Flag of the United States.svg Kathy Whitworth (75)209 (−7)60,0008,500
Apr 4 Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle California Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (15)285 (−3)185,00032,000
Apr 18 Karsten-Ping Open Arizona Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (16)205 (−11)80,00014,000
Apr 25 Birmingham Classic Alabama Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jan Stephenson (2)203 (−13)40,0005,700
May 2 Lady Tara Classic Georgia Flag of the United States.svg JoAnne Carner (15)209 (−10)50,0007,000
May 9 Women's International South Carolina Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Sally Little (1)281 (−7)70,00010,000
May 16 American Defender Classic North Carolina Flag of the United States.svg Sue Roberts (4)211 (−5)45,0006,400
May 23 '76 LPGA Classic New Jersey Flag of the United States.svg Amy Alcott (2)209 (−4)76,00014,000
May 30 LPGA Championship Maryland Flag of the United States.svg Betty Burfeindt (4)287 (−5)55,0008,000
Jun 6 Girl Talk Classic New York Flag of the United States.svg Pat Bradley (1)217 (+1)76,00014,000
Jun 13 Peter Jackson Classic Canada Flag of the United States.svg Donna Caponi (8)212 (−4)60,00012,000
Jun 20 Hoosier Classic Indiana Flag of the United States.svg JoAnne Carner (16)210 (−6)50,0007,000
Jun 27 Babe Zaharias Invitational Ohio Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (17)287 (−1)100,00015,000
Jul 4 Bloomington Bicentennial Classic Indiana Flag of the United States.svg Sandra Palmer (12)209 (−4)50,0007,000
Jul 11 U.S. Women's Open Pennsylvania Flag of the United States.svg JoAnne Carner (17)292 (+8)60,0009,054
Jul 18 Borden Classic Ohio Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (18)205 (−11)70,00010,000
Jul 25 Lady Keystone Open Pennsylvania Flag of the United States.svg Susie Berning (11)215 (−1)50,0007,000
Aug 7 Colgate European Open England Flag of Japan.svg Hisako "Chako" Higuchi (1)284 (−12)100,00015,000
Aug 15 Wheeling Classic West Virginia Flag of the United States.svg Jane Blalock (13)217 (+1)50,0007,000
Aug 22 Patty Berg Classic Minnesota Flag of the United States.svg Kathy Whitworth (76)212 (−7)55,0008,000
Aug 29 National Jewish Hospital Open Colorado Flag of the United States.svg Sandra Palmer (13)206 (−10)50,0007,000
Sep 5 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Classic Illinois Flag of the United States.svg Sandra Palmer (14)213 (−3)100,00015,000
Sep 12 Dallas Civitan Open Texas Flag of the United States.svg Jane Blalock (14)205 (−11)50,0007,000
Sep 19 Portland Classic Oregon Flag of the United States.svg Donna Caponi (9)217 (−2)45,0006,400
Sep 26 The Carlton California Flag of the United States.svg Donna Caponi (10)282 (−6)205,00035,000
Nov 3 LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic Japan Flag of the United States.svg Donna Caponi (11)217 (−5)100,00015,000
Nov 20 Colgate-Hong Kong Open Hong Kong Flag of the United States.svg Judy Rankin (19)216 (E)50,00010,000
Nov 27 Colgate Far East Championship Philippines Flag of the United States.svg Amy Alcott (3)211 (−5)100,00015,000

LPGA Tour vs. The Masters Tournament

In January 1976 the LPGA Tour announced the formation of a new tournament. It was to be titled the Ladies Masters and sponsors said they would pattern the event similar to the Masters Tournament. [2] A little over a month later the LPGA announced the tournament's name was being changed to the Women's International. [3] This happened after Masters Tournament officials contacted the tournament's sponsor and threatened to go to court unless the word Masters wasn't removed from the tournament title. [4]

The Women's International proved to be a short lived event. Its final edition was played in 1985.

Awards

AwardWinnerCountry
Money winner Judy Rankin Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Scoring leader (Vare Trophy) Judy Rankin (2)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Player of the Year Judy Rankin Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Rookie of the Year Bonnie Lauer Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

References

  1. ↑ "LPGA Tournament Chronology 1970-1979" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
  2. ↑ Ladies Masters added to LPGA slate in May
  3. ↑ Ladies' Masters changes name
  4. ↑ LPGA is denied Masters name
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