1976 LPGA Tour

The 1976 LPGA Tour was the 27th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 30 to November 27. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Judy Rankin won the most tournaments, six. She also led the money list with earnings of $150,734.

The season saw the first official tournaments played outside North America; the Colgate European Open in England, the LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic in Japan, the Colgate-Hong Kong Open in Hong Kong, and the Colgate Far East Championship in the Philippines. There were four first-time winners in 1976: Pat Bradley, Hisako "Chako" Higuchi, the first winner from Japan, Sally Little, the first winner from Africa, and Jan Stephenson.

The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1976 season.[1] "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 ($)1st prize ($)
Feb 1Burdine's InvitationalFlorida Judy Rankin (14)213 (-3)40,0005,700
Feb 8Sarah Coventry Naples ClassicFlorida Jan Stephenson (1)218 (+2)60,0008,500
Feb 15Orange Blossom ClassicFlorida JoAnne Carner (14)209 (-7)45,0006,400
Feb 22Bent Tree ClassicFlorida Kathy Whitworth (75)209 (-7)60,0008,500
Apr 4Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's CircleCalifornia Judy Rankin (15)285 (-3)185,00032,000
Apr 18Karsten-Ping OpenArizona Judy Rankin (16)205 (-11)80,00014,000
Apr 25Birmingham ClassicAlabama Jan Stephenson (2)203 (-13)40,0005,700
May 2Lady Tara ClassicGeorgia JoAnne Carner (15)209 (-10)50,0007,000
May 9Women's InternationalSouth Carolina Sally Little (1)281 (-7)70,00010,000
May 16American Defender ClassicNorth Carolina Sue Roberts (4)211 (-5)45,0006,400
May 23'76 LPGA ClassicNew Jersey Amy Alcott (2)209 (-4)76,00014,000
May 30LPGA ChampionshipMaryland Betty Burfeindt (4)287 (-5)55,0008,000
Jun 6Girl Talk ClassicNew York Pat Bradley (1)217 (+1)76,00014,000
Jun 13Peter Jackson ClassicCanada Donna Caponi (8)212 (-4)60,00012,000
Jun 20Hoosier ClassicIndiana JoAnne Carner (16)210 (-6)50,0007,000
Jun 27Babe Zaharias InvitationalOhio Judy Rankin (17)287 (-1)100,00015,000
Jul 4Bloomington Bicentennial ClassicIndiana Sandra Palmer (12)209 (-4)50,0007,000
Jul 11U.S. Women's OpenPennsylvania JoAnne Carner (17)292 (+8)60,0009,054
Jul 18Borden ClassicOhio Judy Rankin (18)205 (-11)70,00010,000
Jul 25Lady Keystone OpenPennsylvania Susie Berning (11)215 (-1)50,0007,000
Aug 7Colgate European OpenEngland Hisako "Chako" Higuchi (1)284 (-12)100,00015,000
Aug 15Wheeling ClassicWest Virginia Jane Blalock (13)217 (+1)50,0007,000
Aug 22Patty Berg ClassicMinnesota Kathy Whitworth (76)212 (-7)55,0008,000
Aug 29National Jewish Hospital OpenColorado Sandra Palmer (13)206 (-10)50,0007,000
Sep 5Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy ClassicIllinois Sandra Palmer (14)213 (-3)100,00015,000
Sep 12Dallas Civitan OpenTexas Jane Blalock (14)205 (-11)50,0007,000
Sep 19Portland ClassicOregon Donna Caponi (9)217 (-2)45,0006,400
Sep 26The CarltonCalifornia Donna Caponi (10)282 (-6)205,00035,000
Nov 3LPGA/Japan Mizuno ClassicJapan Donna Caponi (11)217 (-5)100,00015,000
Nov 20Colgate-Hong Kong OpenHong Kong Judy Rankin (19)216 (E)50,00010,000
Nov 27Colgate Far East ChampionshipPhilippines Amy Alcott (3)211 (-5)100,00015,000

LPGA Tour vs. The Masters Tournament

In January 1976 the LPGA Tour announced the formation of a new tournament. It was to be titled the Ladies Masters and sponsors said they would pattern the event similar to the Masters Tournament.[2] A little over a month later the LPGA announced the tournament's name was being changed to the Women's International.[3] This happened after Masters Tournament officials contacted the tournament's sponsor and threatened to go to court unless the word Masters wasn't removed from the tournament title.[4]

The Women's International proved to be a short lived event. Its final edition was played in 1985.

Awards

AwardWinnerCountry
Money winnerJudy Rankin United States
Scoring leader (Vare Trophy)Judy Rankin (2) United States
Player of the YearJudy Rankin United States
Rookie of the YearBonnie Lauer United States

References

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