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.

1966 LPGA Tour season
DurationMarch 17, 1966 (1966-03-17) – December 4, 1966 (1966-12-04)
Number of official events32
Most wins9 United States Kathy Whitworth
Money leaderUnited States Kathy Whitworth
Player of the YearUnited States Kathy Whitworth
Rookie of the YearUnited States Jan Ferraris
1965
1967

The season saw the first tournament in Canada, the Supertest Ladies Open. An unofficial event, The Lagunita Invitational, was played in Venezuela.[1] 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

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The following table shows all the official money events for the 1966 season.[2] "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

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Award Winner Country
Money winner Kathy Whitworth (2)   United States
Scoring leader (Vare Trophy) Kathy Whitworth (2)   United States
Player of the Year Kathy Whitworth   United States
Rookie of the Year Jan Ferraris   United States

References

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  1. ^ Quine, Frank (March 15, 1966). "Sandra's Smack To Start Open". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 14-A – via Google News Archive.
  2. ^ "LPGA Tournament Chronology 1960-1969" (PDF). LPGA Tour. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011.
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