1978 PGA Tour

1978 PGA Tour season

Duration	January 5, 1978 (1978-01-05) – November 5, 1978 (1978-11-05)
Number of official events	44
Most wins	Tom Watson (5)
Money list	Tom Watson
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Watson
← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 PGA Tour was the 63rd season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 10th season since separating from the PGA of America.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1978 season. ^[1]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner(s) [lower-alpha 1]	Notes
Jan 8	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	Arizona	200,000	Tom Watson (9)
Jan 15	Phoenix Open	Arizona	225,000	Miller Barber (11)
Jan 23	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	225,000	Tom Watson (10)	Pro-Am
Jan 29	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	California	200,000	Jay Haas (1)
Feb 5	Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	250,000	Hubert Green (13)
Feb 13	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	225,000	Bill Rogers (1)	Pro-Am
Feb 19	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	California	200,000	Gil Morgan (2)
Feb 26	Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic	Florida	250,000	Jack Nicklaus (65)
Mar 6	Florida Citrus Open	Florida	200,000	Mac McLendon (3)
Mar 12	Doral-Eastern Open	Florida	200,000	Tom Weiskopf (14)
Mar 19	Tournament Players Championship	Florida	300,000	Jack Nicklaus (66)	Special event
Mar 26	Heritage Classic	South Carolina	225,000	Hubert Green (14)	Invitational
Apr 2	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	240,000	Seve Ballesteros (1)
Apr 9	Masters Tournament	Georgia	262,402	Gary Player (22)	Major championship
Apr 9	Magnolia Classic	Mississippi	35,000	Craig Stadler (n/a)	Second Tour [lower-alpha 2]
Apr 16	MONY Tournament of Champions	California	225,000	Gary Player (23)	Winners-only event
Apr 16	Tallahassee Open	Florida	80,000	Barry Jaeckel (1)	Alternate event
Apr 23	Houston Open	Texas	200,000	Gary Player (24)
Apr 30	First NBC New Orleans Open	Louisiana	200,000	Lon Hinkle (1)
May 7	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	200,000	Tom Watson (11)
May 14	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	200,000	Lee Trevino (23)	Invitational
May 14	Oklahoma City Open	Oklahoma	45,000	Jeff Hewes (n/a)	Second Tour [lower-alpha 2]
May 21	Memorial Tournament	Ohio	250,000	Jim Simons (2)	Invitational
May 28	Atlanta Classic	Georgia	200,000	Jerry Heard (5)
Jun 4	Kemper Open	North Carolina	300,000	Andy Bean (2)
Jun 11	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	Tennessee	250,000	Andy Bean (3)
Jun 18	U.S. Open	Colorado	310,200	Andy North (2)	Major championship
Jun 18	Buick-Goodwrench Open	Michigan	100,000	Jack Newton (1)	Alternate event
Jun 25	Canadian Open	Canada	250,000	Bruce Lietzke (3)
Jul 2	Western Open	Illinois	225,000	Andy Bean (4)
Jul 9	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	150,000	Lee Elder (3)
Jul 15	The Open Championship	Scotland	£125,000	Jack Nicklaus (67)	Major championship [lower-alpha 3]
Jul 16	Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open	Illinois	150,000	Victor Regalado (2)	Alternate event
Jul 23	IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic	Pennsylvania	250,000	Jack Nicklaus (68)
Jul 30	Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open	Connecticut	210,000	Rod Funseth (3)
Aug 6	PGA Championship	Pennsylvania	300,000	John Mahaffey (2)	Major championship
Aug 13	American Optical Classic	Massachusetts	225,000	John Mahaffey (3)
Aug 20	American Express Westchester Classic	New York	300,000	Lee Elder (4)
Aug 27	Colgate Hall of Fame Classic	North Carolina	250,000	Tom Watson (12)
Sep 4	B.C. Open	New York	225,000	Tom Kite (2)
Sep 10	Southern Open	Georgia	175,000	Jerry Pate (5)
Sep 17	San Antonio Texas Open	Texas	200,000	Ron Streck (1)
Sep 24	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	California	200,000	Tom Watson (13)
Oct 1	World Series of Golf	Ohio	400,000	Gil Morgan (3)	Limited-field event
Oct 29	Pensacola Open	Florida	125,000	Mac McLendon (4)
Nov 5	Walt Disney World National Team Championship	Florida	200,000	Wayne Levi (1) and Bob Mann (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
Dec 3	World Cup	Hawaii	n/a	John Mahaffey and Andy North	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy			John Mahaffey

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars. ^[2]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Tom Watson	362,429
2	Gil Morgan	267,459
3	Andy Bean	267,241
4	Jack Nicklaus	256,672
5	Hubert Green	247,406
6	Lee Trevino	228,723
7	Hale Irwin	191,666
8	Billy Kratzert	183,681
9	Gary Player	177,336
10	Jerry Pate	171,999

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Watson	[3]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)	Tom Watson	[3]

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. "1979 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
2. "Final 1978 PGA Money Winners" . News-Journal. Mansfield, Ohio. November 5, 1978. p. 51 (7-E in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Watson Named PGA Player of Year" . The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. November 13, 1978. p. 14 (B-6 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Official website