1970 PGA Tour

1970 PGA Tour season
Duration	January 8, 1970 – December 13, 1970
Number of official events	45
Most wins	Billy Casper (4)
Money list	Lee Trevino
PGA Player of the Year	Billy Casper
	← 1969 1971 →

The 1970 PGA Tour was the 55th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the second season since separating from the PGA of America.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1970 season.^[1]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner(s)^[a]	Notes
Jan 11	Los Angeles Open	California	100,000	Billy Casper (44)
Jan 18	Phoenix Open Invitational	Arizona	100,000	Dale Douglass (3)
Jan 25	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	California	125,000	Bert Yancey (6)	Pro-Am
Feb 1	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	California	150,000	Pete Brown (2)
Feb 8	Bob Hope Desert Classic	California	125,000	Bruce Devlin (5)	Pro-Am
Feb 15	Tucson Open Invitational	Arizona	100,000	Lee Trevino (4)
Feb 22	San Antonio Open Invitational	Texas	100,000	Ron Cerrudo (2)
Mar 1	Doral-Eastern Open Invitational	Florida	150,000	Mike Hill (1)
Mar 6	Florida Citrus Open Invitational	Florida	25,000	Bob Stone (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Mar 8	Florida Citrus Invitational	Florida	150,000	Bob Lunn (4)
Mar 15	Monsanto Open	Florida	150,000	Dick Lotz (2)
Mar 23	Greater Jacksonville Open	Florida	100,000	Don January (8)
Mar 29	National Airlines Open Invitational	Florida	200,000	Lee Trevino (5)
Apr 5	Greater Greensboro Open	North Carolina	180,000	Gary Player (13)
Apr 12	Magnolia Classic	Mississippi	20,000	Chris Blocker (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Apr 13	Masters Tournament	Georgia	125,000	Billy Casper (45)	Major championship
Apr 20	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Louisiana	125,000	Miller Barber (5)
Apr 26	Tournament of Champions	California	150,000	Frank Beard (9)	Winners-only event
Apr 26	Tallahassee Open Invitational	Florida	50,000	Harold Henning (2)	Alternate event
May 3	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	100,000	Jack Nicklaus (31)
May 10	Houston Champions International	Texas	115,000	Gibby Gilbert (1)
May 17	Colonial National Invitation	Texas	125,000	Homero Blancas (2)	Invitational
May 24	Atlanta Classic	Georgia	125,000	Tommy Aaron (2)
May 31	Danny Thomas Memphis Classic	Tennessee	150,000	Dave Hill (8)
Jun 7	Kemper Open	North Carolina	150,000	Dick Lotz (3)
Jun 7	Kiwanis Peninsula Open Invitational	Virginia	25,000	Jerry Barrier (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Jun 14	Western Open	Illinois	130,000	Hugh Royer Jr. (1)
Jun 21	U.S. Open	Minnesota	195,000	Tony Jacklin (3)	Major championship
Jun 28	Cleveland Open	Ohio	150,000	Bruce Devlin (6)
Jul 5	Canadian Open	Canada	125,000	Kermit Zarley (2)
Jul 12	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	110,000	Deane Beman (2)
Jul 12	The Open Championship	Scotland	£40,000	Jack Nicklaus (32)	Major championship^[c]
Jul 19	IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic	Pennsylvania	150,000	Billy Casper (46)
Jul 26	National Four-Ball Championship	Pennsylvania	200,000	Jack Nicklaus (33) and Arnold Palmer (57)	Team event
Aug 2	Westchester Classic	New York	250,000	Bruce Crampton (8)
Aug 9	American Golf Classic	Ohio	150,000	Frank Beard (10)
Aug 16	PGA Championship	Oklahoma	200,000	Dave Stockton (4)	Major championship
Aug 24	AVCO Golf Classic	Massachusetts	160,000	Billy Casper (47)
Aug 30	Dow Jones Open Invitational	New Jersey	300,000	Bobby Nichols (9)	New tournament
Sep 7	Greater Hartford Open Invitational	Connecticut	100,000	Bob Murphy (3)
Sep 20	Robinson Open Golf Classic	Illinois	100,000	George Knudson (7)
Sep 27	Green Island Open Invitational	Georgia	60,000	Mason Rudolph (5)	New tournament
Oct 4	Azalea Open Invitational	North Carolina	60,000	Cesar Sanudo (1)
Oct 25	Kaiser International Open Invitational	California	150,000	Ken Still (3)
Nov 1	Sahara Invitational	Nevada	100,000	Babe Hiskey (1)
Nov 28	Sea Pines Open Invitational	South Carolina	30,000	Larry Wood (n/a)	Second Tour^[b]
Nov 29	Heritage Golf Classic	South Carolina	100,000	Bob Goalby (10)	Invitational
Dec 6	Coral Springs Open Invitational	Florida	125,000	Bill Garrett (1)	New tournament
Dec 13	Bahama Islands Open	Bahamas	130,000	Doug Sanders (19)	New tournament

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse ($)	Winner(s)	Notes
Nov 15	World Cup	Argentina	6,300	Bruce Devlin and David Graham	Team event
Nov 15	World Cup Individual Trophy	Argentina	6,300	Roberto De Vicenzo

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[2]^[3]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Lee Trevino	157,037
2	Billy Casper	147,372
3	Bruce Crampton	142,609
4	Jack Nicklaus	142,149
5	Arnold Palmer	128,853
6	Dick Lotz	125,023
7	Frank Beard	124,689
8	Larry Hinson	120,897
9	Bob Murphy	120,638
10	Dave Hill	118,415

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Player of the Year	Billy Casper	^[4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy)	Lee Trevino	^[5]

Notes

^ The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Official money; unofficial win.
^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

^ "1971 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
^ "Golf PGA | Top money winners". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. December 15, 1970. p. 24 (C2 in paper). Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Trevino's $157,037 Tops Golf Earnings". The News-Messenger. Fremont, Ohio. December 15, 1970. p. 14. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Billy Casper PGA Player of the Year". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. October 28, 1970. p. 31. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Durden, Chauncey (January 28, 1971). "Pars and Pickups". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. 53. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Official website

[2] The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.

[alt-3] Official money; unofficial win.

[unofficial-4] Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

[1] "1971 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

[5] "Golf PGA | Top money winners". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. December 15, 1970. p. 24 (C2 in paper). Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Trevino's $157,037 Tops Golf Earnings". The News-Messenger. Fremont, Ohio. December 15, 1970. p. 14. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Billy Casper PGA Player of the Year". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. October 28, 1970. p. 31. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] Durden, Chauncey (January 28, 1971). "Pars and Pickups". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. 53. Retrieved November 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[1]

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v t e PGA Tour seasons
1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2024

Duration	January 8, 1970 (1970-01-08) – December 13, 1970 (1970-12-13)
Number of official events	45
Most wins	Billy Casper (4)
Money list	Lee Trevino
PGA Player of the Year	Billy Casper
← 1969 1971 →