1969 PGA Tour

The 1969 PGA Tour season was played from January 9 to December 7. The season consisted of 49 official money events. Billy Casper, Raymond Floyd, Dave Hill, and Jack Nicklaus won the most tournaments, three each, and there were 14 first-time winners. Frank Beard was the leading money winner with earnings of $164,707. Orville Moody was voted the PGA Player of the Year[1] and Dave Hill won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

1969 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 9, 1969 (1969-01-09) – December 7, 1969 (1969-12-07)
Number of official events49
Most wins3:
United States Billy Casper
United States Raymond Floyd
United States Dave Hill
United States Jack Nicklaus
Money winnerUnited States Frank Beard
Player of the YearUnited States Orville Moody
← 1968
1970 →

This is generally regarded as the first season of an independent PGA Tour.[2] 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."[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1969 season.[4][5]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
Jan 12Los Angeles OpenCalifornia100,000United States Charlie Sifford (2)
Jan 12Alameda County OpenCalifornia50,000United States Dick Lotz (1)New tournament
Alternate event
Jan 20Kaiser International Open InvitationalCalifornia67,500United States Miller Barber (4)
Jan 27Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia125,000United States George Archer (6)Pro-Am
Feb 2Andy Williams-San Diego Open InvitationalCalifornia150,000United States Jack Nicklaus (28)
Feb 9Bob Hope Desert ClassicCalifornia100,000United States Billy Casper (41)Pro-Am
Feb 16Phoenix Open InvitationalArizona100,000United States Gene Littler (21)
Feb 23Tucson Open InvitationalArizona100,000United States Lee Trevino (3)
Mar 2Doral Open InvitationalFlorida150,000United States Tom Shaw (1)
Mar 9Florida Citrus Open InvitationalFlorida115,000United States Ken Still (1)
Mar 18Monsanto Open InvitationalFlorida100,000United States Jim Colbert (1)
Mar 23Greater Jacksonville OpenFlorida100,000United States Raymond Floyd (3)
Mar 30National Airlines Open InvitationalFlorida200,000United States Bunky Henry (1)New tournament
Apr 6Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina160,000United States Gene Littler (22)
Apr 13Masters TournamentGeorgia100,000United States George Archer (7)Major championship
Apr 14Magnolia ClassicMississippi20,000United States Larry Mowry (n/a)Second Tour[lower-alpha 2]
Apr 20Tournament of ChampionsCalifornia150,000South Africa Gary Player (12)Winners-only event
Apr 20Azalea Open InvitationalNorth Carolina25,000United States Dale Douglass (1)Alternate event
Apr 20Tallahassee Open InvitationalFlorida25,000United States Chuck Courtney (2)New tournament
Alternate event
Apr 27Byron Nelson Golf ClassicTexas100,000Australia Bruce Devlin (4)
May 4Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalLouisiana100,000United States Larry Hinson (1)
May 11Texas Open InvitationalTexas100,000United States Deane Beman (1)
May 18Colonial National InvitationTexas125,000United States Gardner Dickinson (6)Invitational
May 25Atlanta ClassicGeorgia115,000United States Bert Yancey (5)
Jun 1Memphis Open InvitationalTennessee150,000United States Dave Hill (5)
Jun 8Western OpenIllinois130,000United States Billy Casper (42)
Jun 15U.S. OpenTexas205,000United States Orville Moody (1)Major championship
Jun 22Kemper OpenNorth Carolina150,000United States Dale Douglass (2)
Jun 29Cleveland Open InvitationalOhio110,000United States Charles Coody (2)
Jul 6Buick Open InvitationalMichigan125,000United States Dave Hill (6)
Jul 12The Open ChampionshipEngland£30,000England Tony Jacklin (2)Major championship
Jul 13Minnesota Golf ClassicMinnesota100,000United States Frank Beard (7)Alternate event
Jul 20IVB-Philadelphia Golf ClassicPennsylvania150,000United States Dave Hill (7)
Jul 27American Golf ClassicOhio125,000United States Raymond Floyd (4)
Aug 3Westchester ClassicNew York250,000United States Frank Beard (8)
Aug 10Greater Milwaukee OpenWisconsin100,000United States Ken Still (2)
Aug 17PGA ChampionshipOhio175,000United States Raymond Floyd (5)Major championship
Aug 17Indian Ridge Hospital Open InvitationalMassachusetts37,000United States Monty Kaser (1)New tournament
Alternate event
Aug 24AVCO Golf ClassicMassachusetts150,000United States Tom Shaw (2)New tournament
Sep 2Greater Hartford Open InvitationalConnecticut100,000United States Bob Lunn (3)
Sep 7Michigan Golf ClassicMichigan100,000United States Larry Ziegler (1)New tournament
Sep 28Alcan OpenOregon275,000United States Billy Casper (43)New to PGA Tour
Sep 28Robinson Open Golf ClassicIllinois75,000United States Bob Goalby (9)Alternate event
Oct 19Sahara InvitationalNevada100,000United States Jack Nicklaus (29)
Oct 26San Francisco Open InvitationalCalifornia100,000United States Steve Spray (1)
Nov 3Kaiser International Open InvitationalCalifornia140,000United States Jack Nicklaus (30)
Nov 9Hawaiian OpenHawaii125,000Australia Bruce Crampton (7)
Nov 30Heritage Golf ClassicSouth Carolina100,000United States Arnold Palmer (55)New tournament
Invitational
Dec 7Danny Thomas-Diplomat ClassicFlorida125,000United States Arnold Palmer (56)New tournament
Dec 7West End ClassicBahamas25,000United States 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 United States Orville Moody and
United States Lee Trevino		 Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy United States Lee Trevino

Money leaders

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

PositionPlayerPrize money ($)
1United States Frank Beard175,223
2United States Dave Hill156,432
3United States Jack Nicklaus140,167
4South Africa Gary Player123,897
5Australia Bruce Crampton118,955

Awards
AwardWinner
Money winnerUnited States Frank Beard
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Orville Moody
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)United States Dave Hill

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.

References
  1. "Golfer of the year". The Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. AP. November 19, 1969. p. 13. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  2. "Pro golf struggle is settled; PGA forms tourney group". Milwaukee Journal. December 14, 1968. p. 18.
  3. Gorant, Jim (August 8, 2018). "War for the Tour: The day the PGA Championship nearly died". Golf.com.
  4. "1969 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  5. Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 675–82. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.
  6. Rew, Karen (December 26, 1969). "Frank Beard Boosting Business of Pro Golf". Mansfield News Journal. Mansfield, Ohio. AP. p. 23.
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