1979 PGA Tour


The 1979 PGA Tour season was played from January 11 to October 28. The season consisted of 44 official money events. Tom Watson won the most tournaments, five, and there were 11 first-time winners. The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1979 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.
DateTournamentLocationWinnerScore1st prize Notes
Jan 14Bob Hope Desert ClassicCalifornia John Mahaffey 343 50,000
Jan 22Phoenix OpenArizona Ben Crenshaw 199 33,750
Jan 28Andy Williams-San Diego Open InvitationalCalifornia Fuzzy Zoeller 282 45,000
Feb 4Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia Lon Hinkle 284 54,000
Feb 11Hawaiian OpenHawaii Hubert Green 267 54,000
Feb 18Joe Garagiola-Tucson OpenArizona Bruce Lietzke 265 45,000
Feb 25Glen Campbell-Los Angeles OpenCalifornia Lanny Wadkins 276 45,000
Mar 4Bay Hill Citrus ClassicFlorida Bob Byman 278 45,000
Mar 11Jackie Gleason-Inverrary ClassicFlorida Larry Nelson 274 54,000
Mar 18Doral-Eastern OpenFlorida Mark McCumber 279 45,000
Mar 25Tournament Players ChampionshipFlorida Lanny Wadkins 283 72,000
Apr 1Sea Pines Heritage ClassicSouth Carolina Tom Watson 270 54,000
Apr 8Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina Raymond Floyd 282 45,000
Apr 15Masters TournamentGeorgia Fuzzy Zoeller 280 50,000
Apr 15Magnolia State ClassicMississippi Bobby Walzel272 9,000Satellite event
Apr 22MONY Tournament of ChampionsCalifornia Tom Watson 275 54,000
Apr 22Tallahassee OpenFlorida Chi Chi Rodriguez 269 18,000Alternate event
Apr 29First NBC New Orleans OpenLouisiana Hubert Green 273 45,000
May 6Houston OpenTexas Wayne Levi 268 54,000
May 13Byron Nelson Golf ClassicTexas Tom Watson 275 54,000
May 20Colonial National InvitationTexas Al Geiberger 274 54,000
May 27Memorial TournamentOhio Tom Watson 285 54,000
Jun 3Kemper OpenNorth Carolina Jerry McGee 272 63,000
Jun 10Atlanta ClassicGeorgia Andy Bean 265 54,000
Jun 17U.S. OpenOhio Hale Irwin 284 50,000
Jun 24Canadian OpenCanada Lee Trevino 281 63,000
Jul 1Danny Thomas Memphis ClassicTennessee Gil Morgan 278 54,000
Jul 8Western OpenIllinois Larry Nelson 286 54,000
Jul 15Greater Milwaukee OpenWisconsin Calvin Peete 269 36,000
Jul 21British OpenEngland Seve Ballesteros 283 31,500
Jul 22Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities OpenIllinois D. A. Weibring 266 36,000
Jul 29IVB-Philadelphia Golf ClassicPennsylvania Lou Graham 273 45,000
Aug 5PGA ChampionshipMichigan David Graham 272 60,000
Aug 12Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford OpenConnecticut Jerry McGee 267 54,000
Aug 19Manufacturers Hanover Westchester ClassicNew York Jack Renner 277 72,000
Aug 26Colgate Hall of Fame ClassicNorth Carolina Tom Watson 272 45,000
Sep 2B.C. OpenNew York Howard Twitty 270 49,500
Sep 9American Optical ClassicMassachusetts Lou Graham 275 45,000
Sep 16Buick-Goodwrench OpenMichigan John Fought 280 27,000
Sep 23Anheuser-Busch Golf ClassicCalifornia John Fought 277 54,000
Sep 30World Series of GolfOhio Lon Hinkle 272 100,000
Oct 7San Antonio Texas OpenTexas Lou Graham 268 45,000
Oct 14Southern OpenGeorgia Ed Fiori 274 36,000
Oct 21Pensacola OpenFlorida Curtis Strange 271 36,000
Oct 28Walt Disney World National Team ChampionshipFlorida George Burns
Ben Crenshaw
255 22,500

Awards