1981 PGA Tour


The 1981 PGA Tour season was played from January 8 to October 25, with 44 official money events. Bill Rogers won the most tournaments, four, and there were five first-time winners. The tournament results, leaders, and award winners are listed below.
The tour changed its name to the "TPA Tour" in late August, for the "Tournament Players Association". After less than seven months, it reverted to the "PGA Tour" in mid-March 1982.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1981 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.
DateTournamentLocationWinnerScorePurse Winner's
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Notes
Jan 11Joe Garagiola-Tucson OpenArizona Johnny Miller 265 300,00054,000
Jan 18Bob Hope Desert ClassicCalifornia Bruce Lietzke 335 250,00050,000
Jan 25Phoenix OpenArizona David Graham 268 300,00054,000
Feb 2Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia John Cook 209 225,00040,500
Feb 8Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego OpenCalifornia Bruce Lietzke 278 250,00045,000
Feb 14Hawaiian OpenHawaii Hale Irwin 265 325,00058,500
Feb 22Glen Campbell-Los Angeles OpenCalifornia Johnny Miller 270 300,00054,000
Mar 1Bay Hill ClassicFlorida Andy Bean 266 300,00054,000
Mar 8American Motors Inverrary ClassicFlorida Tom Kite 274 300,00054,000
Mar 15Doral-Eastern OpenFlorida Raymond Floyd 273 250,00045,000
Mar 23Tournament Players ChampionshipFlorida Raymond Floyd 285 400,00072,000
Mar 29Sea Pines HeritageSouth Carolina Bill Rogers 278 300,00054,000
Apr 5Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina Larry Nelson 281 300,00054,000
Apr 12Masters TournamentGeorgia Tom Watson 280 365,00060,000
Apr 12Magnolia State ClassicMississippi Tom Jones 268 75,00013,000Satellite event
Apr 19MONY Tournament of ChampionsCalifornia Lee Trevino 273 300,00054,000
Apr 19Tallahassee OpenFlorida Dave Eichelberger 271 100,00018,000Alternate event
Apr 26USF&G New Orleans OpenLouisiana Tom Watson 270 350,00063,000
May 2Michelob-Houston OpenTexas Ron Streck 198 262,50047,250
May 10Byron Nelson Golf ClassicTexas Bruce Lietzke 281 300,00054,000
May 17Colonial National InvitationTexas Fuzzy Zoeller 274 300,00054,000
May 24Memorial TournamentOhio Keith Fergus 284 350,00063,000
May 31Kemper OpenMaryland Craig Stadler 270 400,00072,000
Jun 7Atlanta ClassicGeorgia Tom Watson 277 300,00054,000
Jun 14Manufacturers Hanover Westchester ClassicNew York Raymond Floyd 275 400,00072,000
Jun 21U.S. OpenPennsylvania David Graham 273 360,00055,000
Jun 28Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicTennessee Jerry Pate 274 300,00054,000
Jul 5Western OpenIllinois Ed Fiori 277 300,00054,000
Jul 12Greater Milwaukee OpenWisconsin Jay Haas 274 250,00045,000
Jul 19British OpenEngland Bill Rogers 276 400,00050,000
Jul 19Quad Cities OpenIllinois Dave Barr 270 200,00036,000
Jul 26Anheuser-Busch Golf ClassicVirginia John Mahaffey 276 300,00054,000
Aug 2Canadian OpenCanada Peter Oosterhuis 280 425,00076,500
Aug 9PGA ChampionshipGeorgia Larry Nelson 273 400,00060,000
Aug 16Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford OpenConnecticut Hubert Green 264 300,00054,000
Aug 23Buick OpenMichigan Hale Irwin 277 350,00063,000
Aug 30World Series of GolfOhio Bill Rogers 275 400,000100,000
Sep 6B.C. OpenNew York Jay Haas 270 275,00049,500
Sep 13Pleasant Valley Jimmy Fund ClassicMassachusetts Jack Renner 273 300,00054,000
Sep 20LaJet ClassicTexas Tom Weiskopf 278 350,00063,000
Sep 27Hall of FameNorth Carolina Morris Hatalsky 275 250,00045,000
Oct 1Texas OpenTexas Bill Rogers 266 250,00045,000
Oct 11Southern OpenGeorgia J. C. Snead 271 200,00036,000
Oct 18Pensacola OpenFlorida Jerry Pate 271 200,00036,000
Oct 25Walt Disney World National Team ChampionshipFlorida Vance Heafner
Mike Holland
246 400,00036,000

Source:

Leaders

Scoring Average leaders
RankPlayerCountryAverage
1Tom Kite69.80
2Bruce Lietzke70.01
3Raymond Floyd70.20
4Jerry Pate70.47
5Curtis Strange70.60

Source:
Money List leaders
RankPlayerCountryEarnings EventsWins
1Tom Kite375,699261
2Raymond Floyd359,360233
3Tom Watson347,660213
4Bruce Lietzke343,446243
5Bill Rogers315,411264

Source:
Career Money List leaders
RankPlayerCountryEarnings Wins
1Jack Nicklaus3,759,42570
2Lee Trevino2,608,79228
3Tom Watson2,549,90028
4Tom Weiskopf2,006,81015
5Hale Irwin1,966,37313

Source:

Awards