The 1996 PGA Tour season was played from January 4 to October 28. The season consisted of 44 official money events (plus one event cancelled due to weather). Phil Mickelson won the most tournaments, four, and there were 13 first-time winners. The season notably featured the first Tour win for Tiger Woods. The tournament results, leaders, and award winners are listed below.
Tournament results
The following table shows all the official money events for the 1996 season. "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.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Winner | Score | Purse ($) | 1st prize ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7 | Mercedes Championships | California |  Mark O'Meara (11) |
271 (−17) | 1,000,000 | 180,000 |
| Jan 14 | Nortel Open | Arizona | Phil Mickelson (6) |
273 (−14) | 1,250,000 | 225,000 |
| Jan 21 | Bob Hope Chrysler Classic | California | Mark Brooks (5) |
337 (−23) | 1,300,000 | 234,000 |
| Jan 27 | Phoenix Open | Arizona | Phil Mickelson (7) |
269 (−15) | 1,300,000 | 234,000 |
| Feb 4 | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am | California | cancelled after 36 holes - weather | (1,500,000) | (270,000) | |
| Feb 11 | Buick Invitational | California | Davis Love III (10) |
269 (−19) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Feb 18 | United Airlines Hawaiian Open | Hawaii | Jim Furyk (2) |
277 (−11) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Feb 25 | Nissan Open | California | Craig Stadler (12) |
278 (−6) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Mar 3 | Doral-Ryder Open | Florida |  Greg Norman (18) |
269 (−19) | 1,800,000 | 324,000 |
| Mar 10 | Honda Classic | Florida | Tim Herron (1) |
271 (−17) | 1,300,000 | 234,000 |
| Mar 17 | Bay Hill Invitational | Florida | Paul Goydos (1) |
275 (−13) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Mar 24 | Freeport-McDermott Classic | Louisiana | Scott McCarron (1) |
275 (−13) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Mar 31 | The Players Championship | Florida | Fred Couples (12) |
270 (−18) | 3,500,000 | 630,000 |
| Apr 7 | BellSouth Classic | Georgia | Paul Stankowski (1) |
280 (−8) | 1,300,000 | 234,000 |
| Apr 14 | Masters Tournament | Georgia |  Nick Faldo (8) |
276 (−12) | 2,500,000 | 450,000 |
| Apr 21 | MCI Classic | South Carolina | Loren Roberts (3) |
265 (−19) | 1,400,000 | 252,000 |
| Apr 28 | Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic | North Carolina | Mark O'Meara (12) |
274 (−14) | 1,800,000 | 324,000 |
| May 5 | Shell Houston Open | Texas | Mark Brooks (6) |
274 (−14) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| May 12 | GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic | Texas | Phil Mickelson (8) |
265 (−15) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| May 19 | MasterCard Colonial | Texas | Corey Pavin (14) |
272 (−8) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| May 26 | Kemper Open | Maryland | Steve Stricker (1) |
270 (−14) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| Jun 2 | Memorial Tournament | Ohio | Tom Watson (38) |
274 (−14) | 1,800,000 | 324,000 |
| Jun 9 | Buick Classic | New York |  Ernie Els (3) |
271 (−13) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Jun 16 | U.S. Open | Michigan | Steve Jones (5) |
278 (−2) | 2,400,000 | 425,000 |
| Jun 23 | FedEx St. Jude Classic | Tennessee | John Cook (7) |
258 (−26) | 1,350,000 | 243,000 |
| Jun 30 | Canon Greater Hartford Open | Connecticut | D. A. Weibring (5) |
270 (−10) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| Jul 7 | Motorola Western Open | Illinois | Steve Stricker (2) |
270 (−18) | 2,000,000 | 360,000 |
| Jul 14 | Michelob Championship at Kingsmill | Virginia | Scott Hoch (7) |
265 (−19) | 1,250,000 | 225,000 |
| Jul 21 | British Open | England | Tom Lehman (3) |
271 (−13) | 2,200,000 | 310,000 |
| Jul 21 | Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic | Mississippi | Willie Wood (1) |
268 (−20) | 1,000,000 | 180,000 |
| Jul 28 | CVS Charity Classic | Massachusetts | John Cook (8) |
268 (−16) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Aug 4 | Buick Open | Michigan | Justin Leonard (1) |
266 (−22) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Aug 11 | PGA Championship | Kentucky | Mark Brooks (7) |
277 (−11) | 2,400,000 | 430,000 |
| Aug 18 | Sprint International | Colorado | Clarence Rose (1) |
31 (Stableford) | 1,600,000 | 288,000 |
| Aug 25 | Greater Vancouver Open | Canada | Guy Boros (1) |
272 (−12) | 1,000,000 | 180,000 |
| Aug 25 | NEC World Series of Golf | Ohio | Phil Mickelson (9) |
274 (−6) | 2,100,000 | 378,000 |
| Sep 1 | Greater Milwaukee Open | Wisconsin | Loren Roberts (4) |
265 (−19) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Sep 8 | Bell Canadian Open | Canada | Dudley Hart (1) |
202 (−14) | 1,500,000 | 270,000 |
| Sep 15 | Quad City Classic | Illinois | Ed Fiori (4) |
268 (−12) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Sep 22 | B.C. Open | New York | Fred Funk (4) |
197 (−16) | 1,000,000 | 180,000 |
| Sep 29 | Buick Challenge | Georgia | Michael Bradley (1) |
134 (−10) | 1,000,000 | 180,000 |
| Oct 6 | Las Vegas Invitational | Nevada | Tiger Woods (1) |
332 (−27) | 1,650,000 | 297,000 |
| Oct 13 | LaCantera Texas Open | Texas | David Ogrin (1) |
275 (−13) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Oct 20 | Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic | Florida | Tiger Woods (2) |
267 (−21) | 1,200,000 | 216,000 |
| Oct 28 | The Tour Championship | Oklahoma | Tom Lehman (4) |
268 (−12) | 3,000,000 | 540,000 |
Leaders
Scoring Average leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Lehman |  United States |
69.32 |
| 2 | Fred Couples | United States |
69.57 |
| 3 | Mark O'Meara | United States |
69.69 |
| 4 | Tom Watson | United States |
69.73 |
| 5 | Greg Norman | Australia |
69.76 |
Full 1996 Scoring Average List
Money List leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) | Events | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Lehman | United States |
1,780,159 | 22 | 2 |
| 2 | Phil Mickelson | United States |
1,697,799 | 21 | 4 |
| 3 | Mark Brooks | United States |
1,429,396 | 29 | 3 |
| 4 | Steve Stricker | United States |
1,383,739 | 22 | 2 |
| 5 | Mark O'Meara | United States |
1,255,749 | 21 | 2 |
Career Money List leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Norman | Australia |
10,484,065 | 18 |
| 2 | Tom Kite | United States |
9,657,325 | 19 |
| 3 | Fred Couples | United States |
8,437,102 | 12 |
| 4 | Corey Pavin | United States |
8,026,843 | 14 |
| 5 | Payne Stewart | United States |
7,926,773 | 9 |