1979 LPGA Tour

The 1979 LPGA Tour was the 30th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from February 15 to November 3 and consisted of 35 official money events. Nancy Lopez won the most tournaments, eight, and led the money list with earnings of $197,489.

There were five first-time winners in 1979: Jerilyn Britz, Beth Daniel, Vicki Fergon, Pat Meyers, and Penny Pulz. This was the first year that the Peter Jackson Classic (now called the Canadian Women's Open) was classified as an LPGA major.

Hall of famer Judy Rankin gained her 26th victory in August, which was her final tour win.

The Women's Kemper Open saw the first ever five-way playoff in LPGA Tour history.[1] It was won by JoAnne Carner. Later in the year, The Coca-Cola Classic, was also decided in a five-way playoff.

The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1979 season.[2] "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 ($)Winner's
share ($)
Feb 18Elizabeth Arden ClassicFlorida Amy Alcott (6)285 (–3)100,00015,000
Feb 25Orange Blossom ClassicFlorida Jane Blalock (21)205 (–11)75,00011,250
Mar 4Bent Tree ClassicFlorida Sally Little (3)278 (–10)100,00015,000
Mar 11Sunstar ClassicCalifornia Nancy Lopez (10)280 (–8)100,00015,000
Mar 18Honda Civic ClassicCalifornia JoAnne Carner (23)281 (–7)150,00022,500
Mar 25Sahara National Pro-AmNevada Nancy Lopez (11)274 (–12)100,00015,000
Apr 1Women's Kemper OpenCalifornia JoAnne Carner (24)286 (+2)150,00022,500
Apr 8Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's CircleCalifornia Sandra Post (4)276 (–12)250,00037,500
Apr 22Florida Lady CitrusFlorida Jane Blalock (22)286 (–6)100,00015,000
Apr 29Otey Crisman ClassicAlabama Jane Blalock (23)205 (–11)100,00015,000
May 6Women's InternationalSouth Carolina Nancy Lopez (12)282 (–6)80,00012,000
May 13Lady MichelobGeorgia Sandra Post (5)210 (–6)100,00015,000
May 20Coca-Cola ClassicNew Jersey Nancy Lopez (13)216 (–3)100,00015,000
May 27Corning ClassicNew York Penny Pulz (1)284 (+4)100,00015,000
Jun 3Golden Lights ChampionshipNew York Nancy Lopez (14)280 (–8)100,00015,000
Jun 10LPGA ChampionshipOhio Donna Caponi (14)279 (–9)150,00022,500
Jun 17The Sarah CoventryNew York Jane Blalock (24)280 (–12)100,00015,000
Jun 24Lady Keystone OpenPennsylvania Nancy Lopez (15)212 (–4)100,00015,000
Jul 1Lady Stroh's OpenMichigan Vicki Fergon (1)284 (–4)150,00022,500
Jul 8Mayflower ClassicIndiana Hollis Stacy (6)213 (–3)100,00015,000
Jul 15U.S. Women's OpenConnecticut Jerilyn Britz (1)284 (E)125,00019,000
Jul 22Greater Baltimore ClassicMaryland Pat Meyers (1)210 (–9)75,00011,250
Jul 29Peter Jackson ClassicCanada Amy Alcott (7)285 (–7)150,00022,500
Aug 5Colgate European OpenEngland Nancy Lopez (16)282 (–14)110,00015,000
Aug 13WUI ClassicNew York Judy Rankin (26)288 (–4)100,00015,000
Aug 19Barth ClassicIndiana Sally Little (4)208 (-8)100,00015,000
Aug 26Patty Berg ClassicMinnesota Beth Daniel (1)208 (–11)100,00015,000
Sep 3Rail Charity ClassicIllinois Jo Ann Washam (3)275 (–13)100,00015,000
Sep 9Columbia Savings ClassicColorado Sally Little (5)209 (–7)100,00015,000
Sep 23ERA Real Estate ClassicKansas Sandra Post (6)284 (–8)100,00015,000
Sep 30Mary Kay ClassicTexas Nancy Lopez (17)274 (–14)130,00019,500
Oct 7Wheeling ClassicWest Virginia Debbie Massey (2)219 (+3)100,00015,000
Oct 14United Virginia Bank ClassicVirginia Amy Alcott (8)286 (–2)100,00015,000
Oct 29Colgate Far East OpenPhilippines Silvia Bertolaccini (3)213 (–6)110,00016,500
Nov 3Mizuno Japan ClassicJapan Amy Alcott (9)211 (–11)125,00018,750

Awards
AwardWinnerCountry
Money winnerNancy Lopez (2) United States
Scoring leader (Vare Trophy)Nancy Lopez (2) United States
Player of the YearNancy Lopez (2) United States
Rookie of the YearBeth Daniel United States

References
  1. Largest Sudden-Death Playoff on LPGA Tour
  2. LPGA Tournament Chronology 1970-1979 Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
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