1977 PGA Tour

1977 PGA Tour season
Duration	January 6, 1977 – November 6, 1977
Number of official events	45
Most wins	Tom Watson (5)
Money list	Tom Watson
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Watson
	← 1976 1978 →

The 1977 PGA Tour was the 62nd season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the ninth season since separating from the PGA of America.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1977 season.^[1]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner(s)^[a]	Notes
Jan 9	Phoenix Open	Arizona	200,000	Jerry Pate (3)
Jan 16	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	Arizona	200,000	Bruce Lietzke (1)
Jan 23	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	200,000	Tom Watson (4)	Pro-Am
Jan 30	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	California	180,000	Tom Watson (5)
Feb 6	Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	240,000	Bruce Lietzke (2)
Feb 13	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	200,000	Rik Massengale (3)	Pro-Am
Feb 20	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	California	200,000	Tom Purtzer (1)
Feb 27	Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic	Florida	250,000	Jack Nicklaus (62)
Mar 7	Florida Citrus Open	Florida	200,000	Gary Koch (2)
Mar 13	Doral-Eastern Open	Florida	200,000	Andy Bean (1)
Mar 20	Tournament Players Championship	Florida	300,000	Mark Hayes (3)	Special event
Mar 27	Heritage Classic	South Carolina	225,000	Graham Marsh (1)	Invitational
Apr 3	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	235,000	Danny Edwards (1)
Apr 10	Masters Tournament	Georgia	280,477	Tom Watson (6)	Major championship
Apr 10	Magnolia Classic	Mississippi	35,000	Mike McCullough (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Apr 17	MONY Tournament of Champions	California	225,000	Jack Nicklaus (63)	Winners-only event
Apr 17	Tallahassee Open	Florida	80,000	Ed Sneed (3)	Alternate event
Apr 24	First NBC New Orleans Open	Louisiana	175,000	Jim Simons (1)
May 1	Houston Open	Texas	200,000	Gene Littler (29)
May 8	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	200,000	Raymond Floyd (9)
May 15	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	200,000	Ben Crenshaw (5)	Invitational
May 15	Oklahoma City Open	Oklahoma	45,000	Tom Storey (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
May 23	Memorial Tournament	Ohio	225,000	Jack Nicklaus (64)	Invitational
May 29	Atlanta Classic	Georgia	200,000	Hale Irwin (8)
Jun 5	Kemper Open	North Carolina	250,000	Tom Weiskopf (13)
Jun 12	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	Tennessee	200,000	Al Geiberger (10)
Jun 19	U.S. Open	Oklahoma	200,000	Hubert Green (12)	Major championship
Jun 26	Western Open	Illinois	200,000	Tom Watson (7)
Jul 3	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	130,000	Dave Eichelberger (2)
Jul 9	The Open Championship	Scotland	£100,000	Tom Watson (8)	Major championship^[c]
Jul 10	Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open	Illinois	125,000	Mike Morley (1)	Alternate event
Jul 17	Pleasant Valley Classic	Massachusetts	250,000	Raymond Floyd (10)
Jul 24	Canadian Open	Canada	225,000	Lee Trevino (22)
Jul 31	IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic	Pennsylvania	200,000	Jerry McGee (2)
Aug 7	Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open	Connecticut	210,000	Billy Kratzert (2)
Aug 14	PGA Championship	California	250,000	Lanny Wadkins (4)	Major championship
Aug 21	American Express Westchester Classic	New York	300,000	Andy North (1)
Aug 28	Colgate Hall of Fame Golf Classic	North Carolina	250,000	Hale Irwin (9)
Sep 4	Buick Open	Michigan	100,000	Bobby Cole (1)	Alternate event
Sep 5	World Series of Golf	Ohio	400,000	Lanny Wadkins (5)	Limited-field event
Sep 11	B.C. Open	New York	200,000	Gil Morgan (1)
Sep 25	Ohio Kings Island Open	Ohio	150,000	Mike Hill (3)
Oct 2	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	California	200,000	Miller Barber (10)
Oct 16	San Antonio Texas Open	Texas	150,000	Hale Irwin (10)
Oct 23	Southern Open	Georgia	125,000	Jerry Pate (4)
Oct 30	Pensacola Open	Florida	125,000	Leonard Thompson (2)
Nov 6	Walt Disney World National Team Championship	Florida	200,000	Gibby Gilbert (3) and Grier Jones (3)	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
Sep 17	Ryder Cup	England	n/a	Team USA	Team event
Dec 11	World Cup	Philippines	4,200	Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido	Team event
Dec 11	World Cup Individual Trophy	Philippines	2,100	Gary Player

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[2]^[3]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Tom Watson	310,653
2	Jack Nicklaus	284,509
3	Lanny Wadkins	244,882
4	Hale Irwin	221,456
5	Bruce Lietzke	202,156
6	Tom Weiskopf	197,369
7	Raymond Floyd	163,261
8	Miller Barber	148,320
9	Hubert Green	140,255
10	Billy Kratzert	134,758

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Watson	^[4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)	Tom Watson	^[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.
^ ^a ^b Official money; unofficial win.
^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

^ "1978 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^ "The Top money-winners in 1977". Progress Bulletin. Pomona, California. November 13, 1977. p. 51 (52 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Watson's $310,653 third best on all-time PGA money list". Valley News. Van Nuys, California. November 2, 1977. p. 28 (2 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Watson Named Player of Year". The Kansas City Times. Kansas City, Missouri. November 24, 1977. p. 102. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Another trophy for Watson". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. December 7, 1977. p. 30. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Official website

[2] 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.

[alt-3] Official money; unofficial win.

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

[1] "1978 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

[5] "The Top money-winners in 1977". Progress Bulletin. Pomona, California. November 13, 1977. p. 51 (52 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Watson's $310,653 third best on all-time PGA money list". Valley News. Van Nuys, California. November 2, 1977. p. 28 (2 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Watson Named Player of Year". The Kansas City Times. Kansas City, Missouri. November 24, 1977. p. 102. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Another trophy for Watson". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. December 7, 1977. p. 30. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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