1981 LPGA Tour

The 1981 LPGA Tour was the 32nd season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 29 to November 8. The season consisted of 36 official money events. Donna Caponi won the most tournaments, five. Beth Daniel led the money list with earnings of $206,998, becoming the first player to win over $200,000 in a season.

1981 LPGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 29, 1981 (1981-01-29) – November 8, 1981 (1981-11-08)
Number of official events36
Most wins5 United States Donna Caponi
Money leaderUnited States Beth Daniel
Player of the YearUnited States JoAnne Carner
Rookie of the YearUnited States Patty Sheehan
← 1980
1982 →

The season saw the first tournament with a $50,000 first prize, the World Championship of Women's Golf. There were five first-time winners in 1981: Patty Hayes, Kathy Hite, Cathy Reynolds, Patty Sheehan, and Beth Solomon.

The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1981 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 1Whirlpool Championship of Deer CreekFloridaUnited States Sandra Palmer (17)284 (−8)100,00015,000
Feb 8Elizabeth Arden ClassicFloridaSouth Africa Sally Little (8)283 (−5)125,00018,750
Feb 15S&H Golf ClassicFloridaUnited States JoAnne Carner (30)215 (−1)100,00015,000
Feb 22Bent Tree Ladies ClassicFloridaUnited States Amy Alcott (14)276 (−12)150,00022,500
Mar 1Olympia Gold ClassicCaliforniaSouth Africa Sally Little (9)142 (−4)^150,00022,500
Mar 8Arizona Copper ClassicArizonaUnited States Nancy Lopez (21)278 (−14)125,00018,750
Mar 15Sun City ClassicArizonaUnited States Patty Hayes (1)277 (−15)100,00015,000
Mar 22LPGA Desert Inn Pro-AmNevadaUnited States Donna Caponi (20)286 (−3)200,00030,000
Mar 29Women's Kemper OpenCaliforniaUnited States Pat Bradley (8)284 (E)175,00026,250
Apr 5Colgate-Dinah ShoreCaliforniaUnited States Nancy Lopez (22)277 (−11)250,00037,500
Apr 12American Defender/WRAL Golf ClassicNorth CarolinaUnited States Donna Caponi (21)208 (−8)125,00018,750
Apr 19Florida Lady CitrusFloridaUnited States Beth Daniel (6)281 (−7)100,00015,000
Apr 26Birmingham ClassicAlabamaUnited States Beth Solomon (1)206 (−10)100,00015,000
May 3CPC Women's InternationalSouth CarolinaSouth Africa Sally Little (10)287 (−1)125,00018,750
May 10Lady MichelobGeorgiaUnited States Amy Alcott (15)209 (−8)125,00018,750
May 17Coca-Cola ClassicNew JerseyUnited States Kathy Whitworth (81)211 (−8)125,00018,750
May 24Corning ClassicNew YorkUnited States Kathy Hite (1)282 (−6)125,00018,750
May 31Golden Lights ChampionshipConnecticutUnited States Cathy Reynolds (1)285 (−3)125,00018,750
Jun 7McDonald's ClassicPennsylvaniaCanada Sandra Post (8)282 (−6)150,00022,500
Jun 14LPGA ChampionshipOhioUnited States Donna Caponi (22)280 (−8)150,00022,500
Jun 21Lady Keystone OpenPennsylvaniaUnited States JoAnne Carner (31)203 (−13)125,00018,750
Jun 28The Sarah CoventryNew YorkUnited States Nancy Lopez (23)285 (−7)125,00018,750
Jul 5Peter Jackson ClassicCanadaAustralia Jan Stephenson (5)278 (−10)200,00030,000
Jul 12Mayflower ClassicIndianaUnited States Debbie Austin (7)279 (−9)150,00022,500
Jul 19WUI ClassicNew YorkUnited States Donna Caponi (23)282 (−2)125,00018,750
Jul 26U.S. Women's OpenIllinoisUnited States Pat Bradley (9)279 (−9)150,00022,000
Aug 2Boston Five ClassicMassachusettsUnited States Donna Caponi (24)276 (−12)150,00022,500
Aug 9West Virginia Bank ClassicWest VirginiaUnited States Hollis Stacy (8)212 (−4)125,00018,750
Aug 16Mary Kay ClassicTexasAustralia Jan Stephenson (6)198 (−18)155,00023,250
Aug 23World Championship of Women's GolfOhioUnited States Beth Daniel (7)284 (−4)150,00050,000
Aug 30Columbia Savings LPGA ClassicColoradoUnited States JoAnne Carner (32)278 (−10)150,00022,500
Sep 7Rail Charity Golf ClassicIllinoisUnited States JoAnne Carner (33)205 (−11)125,00018,750
Sep 13United Virginia Bank ClassicVirginiaAustralia Jan Stephenson (7)205 (−14)125,00018,750
Sep 20Henredon ClassicNorth CarolinaUnited States Sandra Haynie (40)281 (−7)165,00024,750
Oct 11Inamori ClassicCaliforniaUnited States Hollis Stacy (9)286 (−6)150,00022,500
Nov 8Mazda Japan ClassicJapanUnited States Patty Sheehan (1)213 (−9)250,00030,000

^ - weather-shortened tournament

Awards
AwardWinnerCountry
Money winnerBeth Daniel (2) United States
Scoring leader (Vare Trophy)JoAnne Carner (3) United States
Player of the YearJoAnne Carner (2) United States
Rookie of the YearPatty Sheehan United States

References
  1. LPGA Tournament Chronology 1980-1989 Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
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