Golf Timeline Homepage
Johnny Miller wins eight events on the PGA Tour, including the first three of the year - the first player to do so.
The Tournament Players Championship is played for the first time. Jack Nicklaus is the winner.
Playing the U.S. National Senior Open in Las Vegas, and using a steel-shafted persimmon driver, 64-year-old Mike Austin hits a 515-yard drive. It is recognized as the longest drive ever hit in a pro tournament.
A golf ball called the "Faultless Omega" is the first two-piece ball with a Surlyn cover. Lee Trevino uses it to win the World Series of Golf.
Through a condition of competition, the R&A outlaws the so-called "British ball," or "small ball," at the British Open. But the smaller "British ball" remains legal under R&A rules until 1990.
Lee Elder wins the PGA Tour Monsanto Open in a playoff over Peter Oosterhuis. The wins qualifies Elder for next year's Masters, where he will become the first black player in the event.
Sandra Haynie wins the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship, the only LPGA majors played this year.
Bonnie Bryant wins the LPGA Bill Branch Classic. She is the first - and still only - left-handed golfer to win on the LPGA Tour.
Co-designed with Desmond Muirhead, Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club opens in Dublin, Ohio.
Born This Year:
• Emilee Klein, LPGA Tour
Died This Year:
• Helen Hicks, 1934 U.S. Women's Amateur champ and first female golfer to turn pro
Money Leaders:
LPGA: JoAnne Carner, $87,094
European: Peter Oosterhuis, England, £ 32,127
Scoring Leaders:
The Masters: Gary Player
U.S. Open: Hale Irwin
British Open: Gary Player
PGA Championship: Lee Trevino
Women's Major Championship Winners
LPGA: Sandra Haynie
U.S. Open: Sandra Haynie
Amateur Champions
U.S.: Jerry Pate
British: Trevor Homer
U.S. Women's: Cynthia Hill
British Women's: Carol Semple
