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[1] 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 (3)275 (−9)7,500
Jan 15San Diego Open InvitationalCalifornia Arnold Palmer (22)271 (−13)2,800
Jan 22Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia Bob Rosburg (5)282 (−6)5,300
Jan 29Lucky InternationalCalifornia Gary Player (3)272 (−12)9,000
Feb 5Palm Springs Golf ClassicCalifornia Billy Maxwell (5)345 (−14)5,300
Feb 13Phoenix Open Invitational[2]Arizona Arnold Palmer (23)270 (−10)4,300
Feb 19Home of the Sun OpenArizona Dave Hill (1)269 (−11)2,800
Feb 26Baton Rouge Open InvitationalLouisiana Arnold Palmer (24)266 (−14)2,800
Mar 5Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalLouisiana Doug Sanders (4)272 (−16)4,300
Mar 12Pensacola Open InvitationalFlorida Tommy Bolt (15)275 (−13)2,800
Mar 19St. Petersburg Open InvitationalFlorida Bob Goalby (4)261 (−23)2,800
Mar 26Sunshine Open InvitationalFlorida Gary Player (4)273 (−15)3,500
Apr 2Azalea OpenNorth Carolina Jerry Barber (5)213 (−3)1,200
Apr 10Masters TournamentGeorgia Gary Player (5)280 (−8)20,000
Apr 16Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina Mike Souchak (13)276 (−8)3,200
Apr 24Houston Classic[3]Texas Jay Hebert (6)276 (−4)7,000
Apr 30Texas Open InvitationalTexas Arnold Palmer (25)270 (−14)4,300
May 7Tournament of ChampionsNevada Sam Snead (81)273 (−15)10,000
May 7Waco Turner OpenOklahoma Butch Baird (1)281 (−11)2,800
May 14Colonial National InvitationTexas Doug Sanders (5)281 (+1)7,000
May 21Hot Springs Open InvitationalArkansas Doug Sanders (6)273 (−15)2,800
May 28500 Festival Open InvitationIndiana Doug Ford (16)273 (−11)9,000
Jun 4Memphis Open InvitationalTennessee Cary Middlecoff (39)266 (−14)4,300
Jun 17U.S. OpenMichigan Gene Littler (17)281 (+1)14,000
Jun 25Western OpenMichigan Arnold Palmer (26)271 (−13)5,000
Jul 3Buick Open Invitational[4]Michigan Jack Burke Jr. (15)284 (−4)9,000
Jul 9St. Paul Open InvitationalMinnesota Don January (3)269 (−19)4,300
Jul 15Canadian OpenCanada Jacky Cupit (1)270 (−10)4,300
Jul 15British OpenEngland Arnold Palmer (27)284 (−4)3,920
Jul 23Milwaukee Open InvitationalWisconsin Bruce Crampton (1)272 (−8)4,300
Jul 31PGA ChampionshipIllinois Jerry Barber (6)277 (−3)11,000
Aug 6Eastern Open InvitationalMaryland Doug Sanders (7)275 (−13)5,300
Aug 13Insurance City Open InvitationalConnecticut Billy Maxwell (6)271 (−13)4,300
Aug 20Carling Open InvitationalMaryland Gay Brewer (1)277 (−3)5,300
Aug 27American Golf ClassicOhio Jay Hebert (7)278 (−2)9,000
Sep 4Dallas Open InvitationalTexas Earl Stewart (3)278 (−2)4,300
Sep 10Denver Open InvitationalColorado Dave Hill (2)263 (−21)3,500
Sep 17Greater Seattle Open InvitationalWashington Dave Marr (1)265 (−15)3,500
Sep 24Portland Open InvitationalOregon Billy Casper (14)273 (−15)3,500
Oct 1Bakersfield OpenCalifornia Jack Fleck (3)276 (−8)3,500
Oct 15Ontario OpenCalifornia Eric Monti (3)277 (−3)2,800
Oct 22Orange County Open InvitationalCalifornia Bob McCallister (1)278 (−6)2,400
Nov 5Almaden Open InvitationalCalifornia Jim Ferrier (18)279 (−9)1,200
Nov 12Beaumont Open InvitationalTexas Joe Campbell (1)277 (−7)2,800
Nov 19Cajun Classic Open InvitationalLouisiana Doug Sanders (8)270 (−14)2,000
Nov 26Mobile Sertoma Open InvitationalAlabama Gay Brewer (2)275 (−13)2,000
Dec 3West Palm Beach Open InvitationalFlorida Gay Brewer (3)274 (−14)2,800
Dec 10Coral Gables Open InvitationalFlorida George Knudson (1)273 (−11)2,800

Source:[5][6]

Money leaders
RankPlayerCountryEarnings ($)
1Gary Player South Africa64,540
2Arnold Palmer United States61,091
3Doug Sanders United States57,428
4Billy Casper United States37,767
5Jay Hebert United States35,583
6Johnny Pott United States33,268
7Gay Brewer United States31,150
8Bob Goalby United States30,919
9Gene Littler United States29,246
10Billy Maxwell United States28,335

Source:[7]

Awards
AwardWinnerCountry
Money winnerGary Player South Africa
PGA Player of the YearJerry Barber United States
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)Arnold Palmer United States

References
  1. "Pro Golfers Vote Barber Top Player". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. October 8, 1961. p. 2. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  2. "Palmer Ruins Sanders, Par To Win At Phoenix". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. AP. February 14, 1961. p. 2-C.
  3. "Hebert Wins Houston Golf in Sudden Death". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania. AP. April 25, 1961. p. 23.
  4. "Burke Captures Flint Open Golf Playoff". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania. AP. July 4, 1961. p. 38.
  5. "1961 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  6. 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.
  7. "Gary Player Top Money Winner". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. AP. December 15, 1961. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
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