The 1997 Senior PGA Tour was the 18th season since the Senior PGA Tour officially began in 1980 (it was renamed the Champions Tour in 2003 and PGA Tour Champions in 2016). The season consisted of 38 official money events with purses totalling $41,750,000, including four majors. Hale Irwin won the most tournaments, nine. The tournament results, leaders, and award winners are listed below.
Tournament results
The following table shows all the official money events for the 1997 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Senior majors are shown in bold.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse ($) | Winner | Score | 1st prize ($) |
|---|
| Jan 19 | MasterCard Championship | Hawaii | 1,000,000 |  Hale Irwin (5) | 209 (−7) | 186,000 |
| Feb 2 | Royal Caribbean Classic | Florida | 850,000 | Gibby Gilbert (6) | 202 (−9) | 127,500 |
| Feb 9 | LG Championship | Florida | 1,000,000 | Hale Irwin (6) | 201 (−15) | 150,000 |
| Feb 16 | GTE Classic | Florida | 900,000 |  David Graham (1) | 204 (−9) | 135,000 |
| Feb 23 | American Express Invitational | Florida | 1,200,000 | Buddy Allin (1) | 205 (−11) | 180,000 |
| Mar 16 | Toshiba Senior Classic | California | 1,000,000 | Bob Murphy (11) | 207 (−6) | 150,000 |
| Mar 30 | Southwestern Bell Dominion | Texas | 800,000 | David Graham (2) | 206 (−10) | 120,000 |
| Apr 6 | The Tradition | Arizona | 1,200,000 | Gil Morgan (2) | 266 (−22) | 180,000 |
| Apr 20 | PGA Seniors' Championship | Florida | 1,200,000 | Hale Irwin (7) | 274 (−14) | 216,000 |
| Apr 27 | Las Vegas Senior Classic | Nevada | 1,000,000 | Hale Irwin (8) | 207 (−6) | 150,000 |
| May 4 | Bruno's Memorial Classic | Alabama | 1,150,000 | Jay Sigel (3) | 205 (−11) | 172,500 |
| May 11 | The Home Depot Invitational | North Carolina | 900,000 | Jim Dent (11) | 208 (−8) | 135,000 |
| May 18 | Cadillac NFL Golf Classic | New Jersey | 950,000 | Bruce Crampton (20) | 210 (−6) | 142,500 |
| May 25 | Bell Atlantic Classic | Pennsylvania | 1,000,000 | Bob Eastwood (1) | 135 (−5) | 150,000 |
| Jun 1 | Ameritech Senior Open | Illinois | 1,200,000 | Gil Morgan (3) | 210 (−6) | 180,000 |
| Jun 8 | BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland | Tennessee | 1,300,000 | Gil Morgan (4) | 202 (−14) | 195,000 |
| Jun 15 | du Maurier Champions | Canada | 1,100,000 | Jack Kiefer (2) | 269 (−15) | 165,000 |
| Jun 22 | Nationwide Championship | Georgia | 1,300,000 | Graham Marsh (4) | 205 (−11) | 195,000 |
| Jun 29 | U.S. Senior Open | Illinois | 1,300,000 | Graham Marsh (5) | 280 (−8) | 232,500 |
| Jul 6 | Kroger Senior Classic | Ohio | 1,000,000 | Jay Sigel (4) | 195 (−18) | 150,000 |
| Jul 13 | Ford Senior Players Championship | Michigan | 1,800,000 | Larry Gilbert (3) | 274 (−14) | 270,000 |
| Jul 20 | Burnet Senior Classic | Minnesota | 1,350,000 | Hale Irwin (9) | 199 (−17) | 202,500 |
| Jul 27 | Franklin Quest Championship | Utah | 1,000,000 | Dave Stockton (14) | 201 (−15) | 150,000 |
| Aug 3 | BankBoston Classic | Massachusetts | 1,000,000 | Hale Irwin (10) | 203 (−13) | 150,000 |
| Aug 10 | Northville Long Island Classic | New York | 1,000,000 | Dana Quigley (1) | 204 (−12) | 150,000 |
| Aug 17 | First of America Classic | Michigan | 1,000,000 | Gil Morgan (5) | 207 (−9) | 150,000 |
| Aug 24 | Saint Luke's Classic | Missouri | 1,000,000 | Bruce Summerhays (1) | 199 (−11) | 150,000 |
| Aug 31 | Pittsburgh Senior Classic | Pennsylvania | 1,100,000 |  Hugh Baiocchi (1) | 206 (−10) | 165,000 |
| Sep 7 | Bank One Classic | Kentucky | 800,000 |  Vicente Fernández (2) | 203 (−13) | 120,000 |
| Sep 14 | Boone Valley Classic | Missouri | 1,300,000 | Hale Irwin (11) | 200 (−16) | 195,000 |
| Sep 21 | Comfort Classic | Indiana | 1,050,000 | David Graham (3) | 200 (−16) | 157,500 |
| Sep 28 | Emerald Coast Classic | Florida | 1,100,000 |  Isao Aoki (7) | 196 (−14) | 165,000 |
| Oct 5 | Vantage Championship | North Carolina | 1,500,000 | Hale Irwin (12) | 195 (−18) | 225,000 |
| Oct 12 | The Transamerica | California | 800,000 | Dave Eichelberger (3) | 205 (−11) | 120,000 |
| Oct 19 | Hyatt Regency Maui Kaanapali Classic | Hawaii | 850,000 | Hale Irwin (13) | 200 (−13) | 127,500 |
| Oct 26 | Raley's Gold Rush Classic | California | 900,000 | Bob Eastwood (2) | 204 (−12) | 135,000 |
| Nov 2 | Ralphs Senior Classic | California | 1,000,000 | Gil Morgan (6) | 198 (−15) | 150,000 |
| Nov 9 | Energizer Senior Tour Championship | South Carolina | 1,850,000 | Gil Morgan (7) | 272 (−16) | 328,000 |
Source:[1]
Leaders
Scoring Average leaders
Source:[2]
Money List leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) | Events | Wins |
|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | United States | 2,343,364 | 23 | 9 |
| 2 | Gil Morgan | United States | 2,160,562 | 25 | 6 |
| 3 | Isao Aoki | Japan | 1,410,499 | 28 | 1 |
| 4 | Jay Sigel | United States | 1,294,838 | 31 | 2 |
| 5 | David Graham | Australia | 1,173,579 | 30 | 3 |
Source:[3]
Career Money List leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Earnings ($) | Wins |
|---|
| 1 | Lee Trevino | United States | 7,449,561 | 27 |
| 2 | Bob Charles |  New Zealand | 7,244,675 | 23 |
| 3 | Jim Colbert | United States | 7,126,797 | 18 |
| 4 | Dave Stockton | United States | 6,636,029 | 14 |
| 5 | Mike Hill | United States | 6,336,905 | 18 |
Source:[4]