1981 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.
DateTournamentLocationWinnerScorePurse 1st prize
Feb 1Whirlpool Championship of Deer CreekFlorida Sandra Palmer 284 100,00015,000
Feb 8Elizabeth Arden ClassicFlorida Sally Little 283 125,00018,750
Feb 15S&H Golf ClassicFlorida JoAnne Carner 215 100,00015,000
Feb 22Bent Tree Ladies ClassicFlorida Amy Alcott 276 150,00022,500
Mar 1Olympia Gold ClassicCalifornia Sally Little 142 ^150,00022,500
Mar 8Arizona Copper ClassicArizona Nancy Lopez 278 125,00018,750
Mar 15Sun City ClassicArizona Patty Hayes 277 100,00015,000
Mar 22LPGA Desert Inn Pro-AmNevada Donna Caponi 286 200,00030,000
Mar 29Women's Kemper OpenCalifornia Pat Bradley 284 175,00026,250
Apr 5Colgate-Dinah ShoreCalifornia Nancy Lopez 277 250,00037,500
Apr 12American Defender/WRAL Golf ClassicNorth Carolina Donna Caponi 208 125,00018,750
Apr 19Florida Lady CitrusFlorida Beth Daniel 281 100,00015,000
Apr 26Birmingham ClassicAlabama Beth Solomon 206 100,00015,000
May 3CPC Women's InternationalSouth Carolina Sally Little 287 125,00018,750
May 10Lady MichelobGeorgia Amy Alcott 209 125,00018,750
May 17Coca-Cola ClassicNew Jersey Kathy Whitworth 211 125,00018,750
May 24Corning ClassicNew York Kathy Hite 282 125,00018,750
May 31Golden Lights ChampionshipConnecticut Cathy Reynolds 285 125,00018,750
Jun 7McDonald's ClassicPennsylvania Sandra Post 282 150,00022,500
Jun 14LPGA ChampionshipOhio Donna Caponi 280 150,00022,500
Jun 21Lady Keystone OpenPennsylvania JoAnne Carner 203 125,00018,750
Jun 28The Sarah CoventryNew York Nancy Lopez 285 125,00018,750
Jul 5Peter Jackson ClassicCanada Jan Stephenson 278 200,00030,000
Jul 12Mayflower ClassicIndiana Debbie Austin 279 150,00022,500
Jul 19WUI ClassicNew York Donna Caponi 282 125,00018,750
Jul 26U.S. Women's OpenIllinois Pat Bradley 279 150,00022,000
Aug 2Boston Five ClassicMassachusetts Donna Caponi 276 150,00022,500
Aug 9West Virginia Bank ClassicWest Virginia Hollis Stacy 212 125,00018,750
Aug 16Mary Kay ClassicTexas Jan Stephenson 198 155,00023,250
Aug 23World Championship of Women's GolfOhio Beth Daniel 284 150,00050,000
Aug 30Columbia Savings LPGA ClassicColorado JoAnne Carner 278 150,00022,500
Sep 7Rail Charity Golf ClassicIllinois JoAnne Carner 205 125,00018,750
Sep 13United Virginia Bank ClassicVirginia Jan Stephenson 205 125,00018,750
Sep 20Henredon ClassicNorth Carolina Sandra Haynie 281 165,00024,750
Oct 11Inamori ClassicCalifornia Hollis Stacy 286 150,00022,500
Nov 8Mazda Japan ClassicJapan Patty Sheehan 213 250,00030,000

^ - weather-shortened tournament

Awards