1961 PGA Tour


The 1961 PGA Tour season was played from January 6 to December 10. The season consisted of 48 official money events. Arnold Palmer won the most tournaments, six, and there were nine first-time winners. Gary Player was the leading money winner with earnings of $64,540. Jerry Barber was voted the PGA Player of the Year and Palmer won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1961 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.
DateTournamentLocationWinnerScore1st prize
Jan 9Los Angeles OpenCalifornia Bob Goalby 275 7,500
Jan 15San Diego Open InvitationalCalifornia Arnold Palmer 271 2,800
Jan 22Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia Bob Rosburg 282 5,300
Jan 29Lucky InternationalCalifornia Gary Player 272 9,000
Feb 5Palm Springs Golf ClassicCalifornia Billy Maxwell 345 5,300
Feb 13Phoenix Open InvitationalArizona Arnold Palmer 270 4,300
Feb 19Home of the Sun OpenArizona Dave Hill 269 2,800
Feb 26Baton Rouge Open InvitationalLouisiana Arnold Palmer 266 2,800
Mar 5Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalLouisiana Doug Sanders 272 4,300
Mar 12Pensacola Open InvitationalFlorida Tommy Bolt 275 2,800
Mar 19St. Petersburg Open InvitationalFlorida Bob Goalby 261 2,800
Mar 26Sunshine Open InvitationalFlorida Gary Player 273 3,500
Apr 2Azalea OpenNorth Carolina Jerry Barber 213 1,200
Apr 10Masters TournamentGeorgia Gary Player 280 20,000
Apr 16Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina Mike Souchak 276 3,200
Apr 24Houston ClassicTexas Jay Hebert 276 7,000
Apr 30Texas Open InvitationalTexas Arnold Palmer 270 4,300
May 7Tournament of ChampionsNevada Sam Snead 273 10,000
May 7Waco Turner OpenOklahoma Butch Baird 281 2,800
May 14Colonial National InvitationTexas Doug Sanders 281 7,000
May 21Hot Springs Open InvitationalArkansas Doug Sanders 273 2,800
May 28500 Festival Open InvitationIndiana Doug Ford 273 9,000
Jun 4Memphis Open InvitationalTennessee Cary Middlecoff 266 4,300
Jun 17U.S. OpenMichigan Gene Littler 281 14,000
Jun 25Western OpenMichigan Arnold Palmer 271 5,000
Jul 3Buick Open InvitationalMichigan Jack Burke Jr. 284 9,000
Jul 9St. Paul Open InvitationalMinnesota Don January 269 4,300
Jul 15Canadian OpenCanada Jacky Cupit 270 4,300
Jul 15British OpenEngland Arnold Palmer 284 3,920
Jul 23Milwaukee Open InvitationalWisconsin Bruce Crampton 272 4,300
Jul 31PGA ChampionshipIllinois Jerry Barber 277 11,000
Aug 6Eastern Open InvitationalMaryland Doug Sanders 275 5,300
Aug 13Insurance City Open InvitationalConnecticut Billy Maxwell 271 4,300
Aug 20Carling Open InvitationalMaryland Gay Brewer 277 5,300
Aug 27American Golf ClassicOhio Jay Hebert 278 9,000
Sep 4Dallas Open InvitationalTexas Earl Stewart 278 4,300
Sep 10Denver Open InvitationalColorado Dave Hill 263 3,500
Sep 17Greater Seattle Open InvitationalWashington Dave Marr 265 3,500
Sep 24Portland Open InvitationalOregon Billy Casper 273 3,500
Oct 1Bakersfield OpenCalifornia Jack Fleck 276 3,500
Oct 15Ontario OpenCalifornia Eric Monti 277 2,800
Oct 22Orange County Open InvitationalCalifornia Bob McCallister 278 2,400
Nov 5Almaden Open InvitationalCalifornia Jim Ferrier 279 1,200
Nov 12Beaumont Open InvitationalTexas Joe Campbell 277 2,800
Nov 19Cajun Classic Open InvitationalLouisiana Doug Sanders 270 2,000
Nov 26Mobile Sertoma Open InvitationalAlabama Gay Brewer 275 2,000
Dec 3West Palm Beach Open InvitationalFlorida Gay Brewer 274 2,800
Dec 10Coral Gables Open InvitationalFlorida George Knudson 273 2,800

Source:

Money leaders

Source:

Awards