The 1976 LPGA Tour was the 27th season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 30 to November 27. The season consisted of 31 official money events. Judy Rankin won the most tournaments, six. She also led the money list with earnings of $150,734.

The season saw the first official tournaments played outside North America; the Colgate European Open in England, the LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic in Japan, the Colgate-Hong Kong Open in Hong Kong, and the Colgate Far East Championship in the Philippines. There were four first-time winners in 1976: Pat Bradley, Hisako "Chako" Higuchi, the first winner from Japan, Sally Little, the first winner from Africa, and Jan Stephenson.

The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results The following table shows all the official money events for the 1976 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 Burdine's Invitational Florida Judy Rankin (14) 213 (−3) 40,000 5,700 Feb 8 Sarah Coventry Naples Classic Florida Jan Stephenson (1) 218 (+2) 60,000 8,500 Feb 15 Orange Blossom Classic Florida JoAnne Carner (14) 209 (−7) 45,000 6,400 Feb 22 Bent Tree Classic Florida Kathy Whitworth (75) 209 (−7) 60,000 8,500 Apr 4 Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle California Judy Rankin (15) 285 (−3) 185,000 32,000 Apr 18 Karsten-Ping Open Arizona Judy Rankin (16) 205 (−11) 80,000 14,000 Apr 25 Birmingham Classic Alabama Jan Stephenson (2) 203 (−13) 40,000 5,700 May 2 Lady Tara Classic Georgia JoAnne Carner (15) 209 (−10) 50,000 7,000 May 9 Women's International South Carolina Sally Little (1) 281 (−7) 70,000 10,000 May 16 American Defender Classic North Carolina Sue Roberts (4) 211 (−5) 45,000 6,400 May 23 '76 LPGA Classic New Jersey Amy Alcott (2) 209 (−4) 76,000 14,000 May 30 LPGA Championship Maryland Betty Burfeindt (4) 287 (−5) 55,000 8,000 Jun 6 Girl Talk Classic New York Pat Bradley (1) 217 (+1) 76,000 14,000 Jun 13 Peter Jackson Classic Canada Donna Caponi (8) 212 (−4) 60,000 12,000 Jun 20 Hoosier Classic Indiana JoAnne Carner (16) 210 (−6) 50,000 7,000 Jun 27 Babe Zaharias Invitational Ohio Judy Rankin (17) 287 (−1) 100,000 15,000 Jul 4 Bloomington Bicentennial Classic Indiana Sandra Palmer (12) 209 (−4) 50,000 7,000 Jul 11 U.S. Women's Open Pennsylvania JoAnne Carner (17) 292 (+8) 60,000 9,054 Jul 18 Borden Classic Ohio Judy Rankin (18) 205 (−11) 70,000 10,000 Jul 25 Lady Keystone Open Pennsylvania Susie Berning (11) 215 (−1) 50,000 7,000 Aug 7 Colgate European Open England Hisako "Chako" Higuchi (1) 284 (−12) 100,000 15,000 Aug 15 Wheeling Classic West Virginia Jane Blalock (13) 217 (+1) 50,000 7,000 Aug 22 Patty Berg Classic Minnesota Kathy Whitworth (76) 212 (−7) 55,000 8,000 Aug 29 National Jewish Hospital Open Colorado Sandra Palmer (13) 206 (−10) 50,000 7,000 Sep 5 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Classic Illinois Sandra Palmer (14) 213 (−3) 100,000 15,000 Sep 12 Dallas Civitan Open Texas Jane Blalock (14) 205 (−11) 50,000 7,000 Sep 19 Portland Classic Oregon Donna Caponi (9) 217 (−2) 45,000 6,400 Sep 26 The Carlton California Donna Caponi (10) 282 (−6) 205,000 35,000 Nov 3 LPGA/Japan Mizuno Classic Japan Donna Caponi (11) 217 (−5) 100,000 15,000 Nov 20 Colgate-Hong Kong Open Hong Kong Judy Rankin (19) 216 (E) 50,000 10,000 Nov 27 Colgate Far East Championship Philippines Amy Alcott (3) 211 (−5) 100,000 15,000

LPGA Tour vs. The Masters Tournament In January 1976 the LPGA Tour announced the formation of a new tournament. It was to be titled the Ladies Masters and sponsors said they would pattern the event similar to the Masters Tournament.Ladies Masters added to LPGA slate in May A little over a month later the LPGA announced the tournament's name was being changed to the Women's International.Ladies' Masters changes name This happened after Masters Tournament officials contacted the tournament's sponsor and threatened to go to court unless the word Masters wasn't removed from the tournament title.LPGA is denied Masters name

The Women's International proved to be a short lived event. Its final edition was played in 1985.

Awards AwardWinnerCountry Money winner Judy Rankin Scoring leader (Vare Trophy) Judy Rankin (2) Player of the Year Judy Rankin Rookie of the Year Bonnie Lauer

References

External links LPGA Tour official site 1976 season coverage at golfobserver.com