The 1966 PGA Tour season was played from January 6 to November 27. The season consisted of 40 official money events. Billy Casper won the most tournaments, four, and there were six first-time winners. Casper was the leading money winner with earnings of $121,945. He was voted the PGA Player of the Year[1] and also won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.
Tournament results
The following table shows all the official money events for the 1966 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Winner | Score | 1st prize ($) |
|---|
| Jan 9 | Los Angeles Open | California |  Arnold Palmer (46) | 273 (−11) | 11,000 |
| Jan 16 | San Diego Open Invitational | California | Billy Casper (29) | 268 (−16) | 5,800 |
| Jan 23 | Bing Crosby National Pro-Am | California | Don Massengale (1) | 283 (−4) | 11,000 |
| Jan 31 | Lucky International Open | California | Ken Venturi (14) | 273 (−11) | 8,500 |
| Feb 6 | Bob Hope Desert Classic | California | Doug Sanders (15) | 349 (−11) | 15,000 |
| Feb 14 | Phoenix Open Invitational | Arizona | Dudley Wysong (1) | 278 (−6) | 9,000 |
| Feb 20 | Tucson Open Invitational | Arizona | Joe Campbell (3) | 278 (−10) | 9,000 |
| Mar 7 | Pensacola Open Invitational | Florida | Gay Brewer (7) | 272 (−16) | 10,000 |
| Mar 13 | Doral Open Invitational | Florida | Phil Rodgers (4) | 278 (−10) | 20,000 |
| Mar 20 | Florida Citrus Open Invitational | Florida | Lionel Hebert (5) | 279 (−5) | 21,000 |
| Mar 27 | Jacksonville Open | Florida | Doug Sanders (16) | 273 (−15) | 13,500 |
| Apr 3 | Greater Greensboro Open | North Carolina | Doug Sanders (17) | 276 (−8) | 20,000 |
| Apr 11 | Masters Tournament | Georgia | Jack Nicklaus (18) | 288 (E) | 20,000 |
| Apr 17 | Azalea Open Invitational | North Carolina | Bert Yancey (1) | 278 (−10) | 3,200 |
| Apr 18 | Tournament of Champions | Nevada | Arnold Palmer (47) | 283 (−5) | 20,000 |
| Apr 26 | Dallas Open Invitational | Texas |  Roberto De Vicenzo (5) | 276 (−8) | 15,000 |
| May 1 | Texas Open Invitational | Texas | .svg.png) Harold Henning (1) | 272 (−8) | 13,000 |
| May 16 | Greater New Orleans Open Invitational | Louisiana | Frank Beard (3) | 276 (−12) | 20,000 |
| May 22 | Colonial National Invitation | Texas |  Bruce Devlin (2) | 280 (E) | 22,000 |
| May 29 | Oklahoma City Open Invitational | Oklahoma | Tony Lema (12) | 271 (−17) | 8,500 |
| Jun 5 | Memphis Open Invitational | Tennessee | Bert Yancey (2) | 265 (−15) | 20,000 |
| Jun 12 | Buick Open Invitational | Michigan | Phil Rodgers (5) | 284 (−4) | 20,000 |
| Jun 20 | U.S. Open | California | Billy Casper (30) | 278 (−2) | 26,500 |
| Jun 26 | Western Open | Illinois | Billy Casper (31) | 283 (−1) | 20,000 |
| Jul 9 | British Open | Scotland | Jack Nicklaus (19) | 282 (−2) | 5,880 |
| Jul 17 | Minnesota Golf Classic | Minnesota | Bobby Nichols (7) | 270 (−14) | 20,000 |
| Jul 24 | PGA Championship | Ohio | Al Geiberger (4) | 280 (E) | 25,000 |
| Jul 31 | 500 Festival Open Invitation | Indiana | Billy Casper (32) | 277 (−11) | 16,400 |
| Aug 7 | Cleveland Open | Ohio | R. H. Sikes (2) | 268 (−16) | 20,000 |
| Aug 14 | Thunderbird Classic[2] | New Jersey | Mason Rudolph (4) | 278 (−10) | 20,000 |
| Aug 21 | Insurance City Open Invitational | Connecticut | Art Wall, Jr. (13) | 266 (−18) | 20,000 |
| Aug 28 | Philadelphia Golf Classic | Pennsylvania | Don January (5) | 278 (−10) | 21,000 |
| Sep 3 | Carling World Open | England | Bruce Devlin (3) | 286 (−6) | 35,000 |
| Sep 18 | Portland Open Invitational | Oregon | Bert Yancey (3) | 271 (−17) | 6,800 |
| Sep 25 | Greater Seattle-Everett Classic | Washington | Homero Blancas (1) | 266 (−18) | 6,600 |
| Oct 2 | Canadian Open | Canada | Don Massengale (2) | 280 (−4) | 20,000 |
| Oct 15 | Sahara Invitational | Nevada | Jack Nicklaus (20) | 282 (−2) | 20,000 |
| Oct 30 | Hawaiian Open | Hawaii | Ted Makalena (1) | 271 (−17) | 8,500 |
| Nov 20 | Houston Champions International[3] | Texas | Arnold Palmer (48) | 275 (−9) | 21,000 |
| Nov 27 | Cajun Classic | Louisiana | Jacky Cupit (4) | 271 (−17) | 4,850 |
Source:[4][5]
Money leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) |
|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper | United States | 121,945 |
| 2 | Jack Nicklaus | United States | 111,419 |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | United States | 110,468 |
| 4 | Doug Sanders | United States | 80,096 |
| 5 | Gay Brewer | United States | 75,688 |
| 6 | Phil Rodgers | United States | 68,360 |
| 7 | Gene Littler | United States | 68,345 |
| 8 | R. H. Sikes | United States | 67,349 |
| 9 | Frank Beard | United States | 66,041 |
| 10 | Al Geiberger | United States | 63,220 |
Source:[6]
References
- ↑ "Casper Is Named Golfer Of Year; Billy Burke is Selected for Hall of Fame by P.G.A." The New York Times. UPI. November 2, 1966. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ↑ "Rudolph Holds Off Bear". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. AP. August 15, 1966. p. 1-C.
- ↑ Rescheduled to November after original May 5–8 tourney was rained out.
- ↑ "1966 winners sorted by age". PGA Tour. July 9, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
- ↑ Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 656–62. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.
- ↑ "Casper Leads Golf Earnings". Playground Daily News. Fort Walton Beach, Florida. AP. November 29, 1966. p. 7.