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1981 LPGA Tour
Golf tour season
Golf tour season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1981 |
| tour | LPGA Tour |
| regular_season | – |
| no_of_events | 36 |
| most_wins | 5 USA Donna Caponi |
| honor1 | Money leader |
| honoree1 | USA Beth Daniel |
| honor2 | Player of the Year |
| honoree2 | USA JoAnne Carner |
| honor3 | Rookie of the Year |
| honoree3 | USA Patty Sheehan |
| prevseason | [1980](1980-lpga-tour) |
| nextseason | [1982](1982-lpga-tour) |
The 1981 LPGA Tour was the 32nd season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 29 to November 8. The season consisted of 36 official money events. Donna Caponi won the most tournaments, five. Beth Daniel led the money list with earnings of $206,998, becoming the first player to win over $200,000 in a season.
The season saw the first tournament with a $50,000 first prize, the World Championship of Women's Golf. There were five first-time winners in 1981: Patty Hayes, Kathy Hite, Cathy Reynolds, Patty Sheehan, and Beth Solomon.
The tournament results and award winners are listed below.
Tournament results
The following table shows all the official money events for the 1981 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Winner | Score | Purse ($) | 1st prize ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1 | Whirlpool Championship of Deer Creek | Florida | USA Sandra Palmer (17) | 284 (−8) | 100,000 | 15,000 |
| Feb 8 | Elizabeth Arden Classic | Florida | ZAF Sally Little (8) | 283 (−5) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Feb 15 | S&H Golf Classic | Florida | USA JoAnne Carner (30) | 215 (−1) | 100,000 | 15,000 |
| Feb 22 | Bent Tree Ladies Classic | Florida | USA Amy Alcott (14) | 276 (−12) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Mar 1 | Olympia Gold Classic | California | ZAF Sally Little (9) | 142 (−4)^ | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Mar 8 | Arizona Copper Classic | Arizona | USA Nancy Lopez (21) | 278 (−14) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Mar 15 | Sun City Classic | Arizona | USA Patty Hayes (1) | 277 (−15) | 100,000 | 15,000 |
| Mar 22 | LPGA Desert Inn Pro-Am | Nevada | USA Donna Caponi (20) | 286 (−3) | 200,000 | 30,000 |
| Mar 29 | Women's Kemper Open | California | USA Pat Bradley (8) | 284 (E) | 175,000 | 26,250 |
| Apr 5 | Colgate-Dinah Shore | California | USA Nancy Lopez (22) | 277 (−11) | 250,000 | 37,500 |
| Apr 12 | American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic | North Carolina | USA Donna Caponi (21) | 208 (−8) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Apr 19 | Florida Lady Citrus | Florida | USA Beth Daniel (6) | 281 (−7) | 100,000 | 15,000 |
| Apr 26 | Birmingham Classic | Alabama | USA Beth Solomon (1) | 206 (−10) | 100,000 | 15,000 |
| May 3 | CPC Women's International | South Carolina | ZAF Sally Little (10) | 287 (−1) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| May 10 | Lady Michelob | Georgia | USA Amy Alcott (15) | 209 (−8) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| May 17 | Coca-Cola Classic | New Jersey | USA Kathy Whitworth (81) | 211 (−8) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| May 24 | Corning Classic | New York | USA Kathy Hite (1) | 282 (−6) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| May 31 | Golden Lights Championship | Connecticut | USA Cathy Reynolds (1) | 285 (−3) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Jun 7 | McDonald's Classic | Pennsylvania | CAN Sandra Post (8) | 282 (−6) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Jun 14 | **[LPGA Championship](1981-lpga-championship)** | Ohio | USA **Donna Caponi (22)** | 280 (−8) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Jun 21 | Lady Keystone Open | Pennsylvania | USA JoAnne Carner (31) | 203 (−13) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Jun 28 | The Sarah Coventry | New York | USA Nancy Lopez (23) | 285 (−7) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Jul 5 | **Peter Jackson Classic** | Canada | AUS **Jan Stephenson (5)** | 278 (−10) | 200,000 | 30,000 |
| Jul 12 | Mayflower Classic | Indiana | USA Debbie Austin (7) | 279 (−9) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Jul 19 | WUI Classic | New York | USA Donna Caponi (23) | 282 (−2) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Jul 26 | **[U.S. Women's Open](1981-u-s-women-s-open)** | Illinois | USA **Pat Bradley (9)** | 279 (−9) | 150,000 | 22,000 |
| Aug 2 | Boston Five Classic | Massachusetts | USA Donna Caponi (24) | 276 (−12) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Aug 9 | West Virginia Bank Classic | West Virginia | USA Hollis Stacy (8) | 212 (−4) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Aug 16 | Mary Kay Classic | Texas | AUS Jan Stephenson (6) | 198 (−18) | 155,000 | 23,250 |
| Aug 23 | World Championship of Women's Golf | Ohio | USA Beth Daniel (7) | 284 (−4) | 150,000 | 50,000 |
| Aug 30 | Columbia Savings LPGA Classic | Colorado | USA JoAnne Carner (32) | 278 (−10) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Sep 7 | Rail Charity Golf Classic | Illinois | USA JoAnne Carner (33) | 205 (−11) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Sep 13 | United Virginia Bank Classic | Virginia | AUS Jan Stephenson (7) | 205 (−14) | 125,000 | 18,750 |
| Sep 20 | Henredon Classic | North Carolina | USA Sandra Haynie (40) | 281 (−7) | 165,000 | 24,750 |
| Oct 11 | Inamori Classic | California | USA Hollis Stacy (9) | 286 (−6) | 150,000 | 22,500 |
| Nov 8 | Mazda Japan Classic | Japan | USA Patty Sheehan (1) | 213 (−9) | 250,000 | 30,000 |
^ - weather-shortened tournament
Awards
| Award | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Money winner | Beth Daniel (2) | |
| Scoring leader (Vare Trophy) | JoAnne Carner (3) | |
| Player of the Year | JoAnne Carner (2) | |
| Rookie of the Year | Patty Sheehan |
References
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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