1961 PGA Tour

1961 PGA Tour season
Duration	January 6, 1961 – December 10, 1961
Number of official events	48
Most wins	Arnold Palmer (6)
Money list	Gary Player
PGA Player of the Year	Jerry Barber
	← 1960 1962 →

The 1961 PGA Tour was the 46th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1961 season.^[1]^[2]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner^[a]	Notes
Jan 9	Los Angeles Open	California	45,000	Bob Goalby (3)
Jan 15	San Diego Open Invitational	California	22,500	Arnold Palmer (22)
Jan 22	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	50,000	Bob Rosburg (5)	Pro-Am
Jan 29	Lucky International Open	California	57,000	Gary Player (3)	New tournament
Feb 5	Palm Springs Golf Classic	California	52,000	Billy Maxwell (5)	Pro-Am
Feb 13	Phoenix Open Invitational	Arizona	30,000	Arnold Palmer (23)
Feb 19	Home of the Sun Open	Arizona	20,000	Dave Hill (1)
Feb 26	Baton Rouge Open Invitational	Louisiana	20,000	Arnold Palmer (24)
Mar 5	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Louisiana	30,000	Doug Sanders (4)
Mar 12	Pensacola Open Invitational	Florida	20,000	Tommy Bolt (15)
Mar 19	St. Petersburg Open Invitational	Florida	20,000	Bob Goalby (4)
Mar 26	Sunshine Open Invitational	Florida	25,000	Gary Player (4)	New tournament
Apr 2	Azalea Open	North Carolina	12,000	Jerry Barber (5)
Apr 10	Masters Tournament	Georgia	110,000	Gary Player (5)	Major championship
Apr 16	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	22,500	Mike Souchak (13)
Apr 24	Houston Classic	Texas	40,000	Jay Hebert (6)
Apr 30	Texas Open Invitational	Texas	30,000	Arnold Palmer (25)
May 7	Tournament of Champions	Nevada	52,000	Sam Snead (81)	Winners-only event
May 7	Waco Turner Open	Oklahoma	20,000	Butch Baird (1)	New tournament Alternate event
May 14	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	40,000	Doug Sanders (5)	Invitational
May 21	Hot Springs Open Invitational	Arkansas	20,000	Doug Sanders (6)
May 28	500 Festival Open Invitation	Indiana	50,000	Doug Ford (16)
Jun 4	Memphis Open Invitational	Tennessee	30,000	Cary Middlecoff (39)
Jun 17	U.S. Open	Michigan	60,000	Gene Littler (17)	Major championship
Jun 25	Western Open	Michigan	55,000	Arnold Palmer (26)
Jul 3	Buick Open Invitational	Michigan	50,000	Jack Burke Jr. (15)
Jul 9	St. Paul Open Invitational	Minnesota	30,000	Don January (3)
Jul 15	The Open Championship	England	£8,500	Arnold Palmer (27)	Major championship^[b]
Jul 15	Canadian Open	Canada	30,000	Jacky Cupit (1)
Jul 23	Milwaukee Open Invitational	Wisconsin	30,000	Bruce Crampton (1)
Jul 31	PGA Championship	Illinois	65,000	Jerry Barber (6)	Major championship
Aug 6	Eastern Open Invitational	Maryland	35,000	Doug Sanders (7)
Aug 13	Insurance City Open Invitational	Connecticut	30,000	Billy Maxwell (6)
Aug 20	Carling Open Invitational	Maryland	35,000	Gay Brewer (1)
Aug 27	American Golf Classic	Ohio	50,000	Jay Hebert (7)	New tournament
Sep 4	Dallas Open Invitational	Texas	30,000	Earl Stewart (3)
Sep 10	Denver Open Invitational	Colorado	25,000	Dave Hill (2)
Sep 17	Greater Seattle Open Invitational	Washington	25,000	Dave Marr (1)
Sep 24	Portland Open Invitational	Oregon	25,000	Billy Casper (14)
Oct 1	Bakersfield Open	California	25,000	Jack Fleck (3)	New tournament
Oct 15	Ontario Open	California	20,000	Eric Monti (3)	New tournament
Oct 22	Orange County Open Invitational	California	17,500	Bob McCallister (1)
Nov 5	Almaden Open Invitational	California	12,000	Jim Ferrier (18)	New to PGA Tour
Nov 12	Beaumont Open Invitational	Texas	20,000	Joe Campbell (1)	New tournament
Nov 19	Cajun Classic Open Invitational	Louisiana	15,000	Doug Sanders (8)
Nov 26	Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational	Alabama	15,000	Gay Brewer (2)
Dec 3	West Palm Beach Open Invitational	Florida	20,000	Gay Brewer (3)
Dec 10	Coral Gables Open Invitational	Florida]	20,000	George Knudson (1)

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
Oct 14	Ryder Cup	England	n/a	Team USA	Team event
Jun 4	Canada Cup	Puerto Rico	6,300	Jimmy Demaret and Sam Snead	Team event
Jun 4	Canada Cup Individual Trophy	Puerto Rico	6,300	Sam Snead

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	Gary Player	64,540
2	Arnold Palmer	61,091
3	Doug Sanders	57,428
4	Billy Casper	37,767
5	Jay Hebert	35,583
6	Johnny Pott	33,268
7	Gay Brewer	31,150
8	Bob Goalby	30,919
9	Gene Littler	29,246
10	Billy Maxwell	28,335

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Player of the Year	Jerry Barber	^[4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)	Arnold Palmer	^[5]

Notes

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

References

^ "1961 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
^ Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 623–30. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.
^ "Gary Player Top Money Winner". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Associated Press. December 15, 1961. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2013 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Pro Golfers Vote Barber Top Player". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. October 8, 1961. p. 2. Retrieved March 19, 2013 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Arnold Palmer Wins Golf's Vardon Trophy". The Independent-Record. Helena, Montana. December 24, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Official website

[3] 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.

[unofficial-4] Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

[1] "1961 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. 623–30. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.

[5] "Gary Player Top Money Winner". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Associated Press. December 15, 1961. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2013 – via Google News Archive.

[6] "Pro Golfers Vote Barber Top Player". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. October 8, 1961. p. 2. Retrieved March 19, 2013 – via Google News Archive.

[7] "Arnold Palmer Wins Golf's Vardon Trophy". The Independent-Record. Helena, Montana. December 24, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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