The 1966 LPGA Tour was the 17th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from March 17 to December 4. The season consisted of 32 official money events. Kathy Whitworth won the most tournaments, nine. She also led the money list with earnings of $33,517.
The season saw the first tournament in Canada, the Supertest Ladies Open. An unofficial event, The Lagunita Invitational, was played in Venezuela. This was the last year that the Titleholders Championship, an LPGA major, would be played in Georgia. It would return for one final year in 1972. The LPGA introduced the Player of the Year in 1966, won by Kathy Whitworth. There were two first-time winners in 1966: Gloria Ehret and Sandra Spuzich.
The tournament results and award winners are listed below.
Tournament results The following table shows all the official money events for the 1966 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.
Date Tournament Location Winner Score Purse ($) 1st prize ($) Mar 20 St. Petersburg Women's Open Florida Marilynn Smith (15) 285 11,000 1,650 Mar 27 Louise Suggs Delray Beach Invitational Florida Marilynn Smith (16) 211 8,500 1,275 Apr 3 Venice Ladies Open Florida Mickey Wright (66) 217 8,500 1,275 Apr 17 Raleigh Ladies Invitational North Carolina Carol Mann (4) 216 10,000 1,500 Apr 24 Peach Blossom Invitational South Carolina Carol Mann (5) 216 8,500 1,275 May 1 Shreveport Kiwanis Club Invitational Louisiana Mickey Wright (67) 217 9,000 1,350 May 8 Tall City Open Texas Kathy Whitworth (20) 208 12,500 1,875 May 15 Dallas Civitan Invitational Texas Clifford Ann Creed (7) 285 15,000 2,250 May 22 Babe Zaharias Open Texas Shirley Englehorn (5) 209 9,000 1,350 May 29 Baton Rouge Ladies Invitational Louisiana Carol Mann (6) 209 10,000 1,500 Jun 5 Clayton Federal Invitational Missouri Kathy Whitworth (21) 208 12,500 1,875 Jun 12 Bluegrass Ladies Invitational Kentucky Mickey Wright (68) 210 10,000 1,500 Jun 19 Milwaukee Jaycee Open Wisconsin Kathy Whitworth (22) 273 13,000 1,950 Jun 26 Waterloo Women's Open Invitational Iowa Carol Mann (7) 214 10,000 1,500 Jul 3 U.S. Women's Open Minnesota Sandra Spuzich (1) 297 20,000 4,000 Jul 10 Buckeye Savings Invitational Ohio Sandra Haynie (8) 205 13,000 1,950 Jul 17 Lady Carling Open Ohio Clifford Ann Creed (8) 221 17,500 2,625 Jul 30 Supertest Ladies Open Canada Kathy Whitworth (23) 213 15,000 2,250 Aug 7 Lady Carling Open Massachusetts Kathy Whitworth (24) 217 15,000 2,250 Aug 14 Lady Carling Open Maryland Kathy Whitworth (25) 214 12,500 1,875 Aug 21 Women's Western Open Wisconsin Mickey Wright (69) 302 10,000 1,500 Aug 28 Glass City Classic Ohio Sandra Haynie (9) 213 25,000 3,750 Sep 11 Pacific Ladies' Classic Oregon Mickey Wright (70) 284 10,000 1,500 Sep 18 Shirley Englehorn Invitational Idaho Mickey Wright (71) 203 10,000 1,500 Sep 25 LPGA Championship Nevada Gloria Ehret (1) 282 16,500 2,475 Oct 2 Mickey Wright Invitational California Mickey Wright (72) 289 10,000 1,500 Oct 30 Las Cruces Ladies Open New Mexico Kathy Whitworth (26) 214 9,000 1,350 Nov 6 Amarillo Ladies' Open Texas Kathy Whitworth (27) 215 10,000 1,500 Nov 13 Alamo Ladies' Open Texas Sandra Haynie (10) 213 12,500 1,875 Nov 20 The Success Open Texas Clifford Ann Creed (9) 207 10,000 1,500 Nov 27 Titleholders Championship Georgia Kathy Whitworth (28) 291 10,000 1,500 Dec 4 Pensacola Ladies Invitational Florida Sandra Haynie (11) 218 10,000 1,500
Awards AwardWinnerCountry Money winner Kathy Whitworth (2) Scoring leader (Vare Trophy) Kathy Whitworth (2) Player of the Year Kathy Whitworth Rookie of the Year Jan Ferraris
References
External links LPGA Tour official site 1966 season coverage at golfobserver.com