1996 PGA Tour season

Duration	January 4, 1996 (1996-01-04) – October 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)
Number of official events	44[a]
Most wins	Phil Mickelson (4)
Money list	Tom Lehman
Player of the Year	Tom Lehman
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Lehman
Rookie of the Year	Tiger Woods
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 PGA Tour was the 81st season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 28th season since separating from the PGA of America.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1996 season.^[1][2]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner[b]	OWGR points	Notes
Jan 7	Mercedes Championships	California	1,000,000	Mark O'Meara (11)	52	Winners-only event
Jan 14	Nortel Open	Arizona	1,250,000	Phil Mickelson (6)	42
Jan 21	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	California	1,300,000	Mark Brooks (5)	42	Pro-Am
Jan 27	Phoenix Open	Arizona	1,300,000	Phil Mickelson (7)	48
Feb 4	AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	California	–	Canceled[c]	–	Pro-Am
Feb 11	Buick Invitational	California	1,200,000	Davis Love III (10)	52
Feb 18	United Airlines Hawaiian Open	Hawaii	1,200,000	Jim Furyk (2)	38
Feb 25	Nissan Open	California	1,200,000	Craig Stadler (12)	46
Mar 3	Doral-Ryder Open	Florida	1,800,000	Greg Norman (18)	68
Mar 10	Honda Classic	Florida	1,300,000	Tim Herron (1)	50
Mar 17	Bay Hill Invitational	Florida	1,200,000	Paul Goydos (1)	68	Invitational
Mar 24	Freeport-McDermott Classic	Louisiana	1,200,000	Scott McCarron (1)	42
Mar 31	The Players Championship	Florida	3,500,000	Fred Couples (12)	80	Flagship event
Apr 7	BellSouth Classic	Georgia	1,300,000	Paul Stankowski (1)	54
Apr 14	Masters Tournament	Georgia	2,500,000	Nick Faldo (8)	100	Major championship
Apr 21	MCI Classic	South Carolina	1,400,000	Loren Roberts (3)	60	Invitational
Apr 28	Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic	North Carolina	1,800,000	Mark O'Meara (12)	44
May 5	Shell Houston Open	Texas	1,500,000	Mark Brooks (6)	40
May 12	GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Texas	1,500,000	Phil Mickelson (8)	56
May 19	MasterCard Colonial	Texas	1,500,000	Corey Pavin (14)	60	Invitational
May 26	Kemper Open	Maryland	1,500,000	Steve Stricker (1)	40
Jun 2	Memorial Tournament	Ohio	1,800,000	Tom Watson (38)	68	Invitational
Jun 9	Buick Classic	New York	1,200,000	Ernie Els (3)	56
Jun 16	U.S. Open	Michigan	2,400,000	Steve Jones (5)	100	Major championship
Jun 23	FedEx St. Jude Classic	Tennessee	1,350,000	John Cook (7)	40
Jun 30	Canon Greater Hartford Open	Connecticut	1,500,000	D. A. Weibring (5)	42
Jul 7	Motorola Western Open	Illinois	2,000,000	Steve Stricker (2)	68
Jul 14	Michelob Championship at Kingsmill	Virginia	1,250,000	Scott Hoch (7)	24
Jul 21	The Open Championship	England	£1,500,000	Tom Lehman (3)	100	Major championship
Jul 21	Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic	Mississippi	1,000,000	Willie Wood (1)	20	Alternate event
Jul 28	CVS Charity Classic	Massachusetts	1,200,000	John Cook (8)	26
Aug 4	Buick Open	Michigan	1,200,000	Justin Leonard (1)	50
Aug 11	PGA Championship	Kentucky	2,400,000	Mark Brooks (7)	100	Major championship
Aug 18	Sprint International	Colorado	1,600,000	Clarence Rose (1)	66
Aug 25	NEC World Series of Golf	Ohio	2,100,000	Phil Mickelson (9)	58	Limited-field event
Aug 25	Greater Vancouver Open	Canada	1,000,000	Guy Boros (1)	22	Alternate event
Sep 1	Greater Milwaukee Open	Wisconsin	1,200,000	Loren Roberts (4)	38
Sep 8	Bell Canadian Open	Canada	1,500,000	Dudley Hart (1)	40
Sep 15	Quad City Classic	Illinois	1,200,000	Ed Fiori (4)	32
Sep 22	B.C. Open	New York	1,000,000	Fred Funk (4)	28
Sep 29	Buick Challenge	Georgia	1,000,000	Michael Bradley (1)	26
Oct 6	Las Vegas Invitational	Nevada	1,650,000	Tiger Woods (1)	50
Oct 13	LaCantera Texas Open	Texas	1,200,000	David Ogrin (1)	40
Oct 20	Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic	Florida	1,200,000	Tiger Woods (2)	46
Oct 28	The Tour Championship	Oklahoma	3,000,000	Tom Lehman (4)	60	Tour Championship

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse ($)	Winner(s)	OWGR points	Notes
Sep 15	Presidents Cup	Virginia	n/a	Team USA	n/a	Team event
Nov 3	Subaru Sarazen World Open	Georgia	1,900,000	Frank Nobilo	40
Nov 10	Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International	Hawaii	1,200,000	Paul Stankowski	40
Nov 15	MasterCard PGA Grand Slam of Golf	Hawaii	1,000,000	Tom Lehman	n/a	Limited-field event
Nov 17	Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout	California	1,100,000	Jay Haas and Tom Kite	n/a	Team event
Nov 24	World Cup of Golf	South Africa	1,300,000	Ernie Els and Wayne Westner	n/a	Team event
	World Cup of Golf Individual Trophy		200,000	Ernie Els	n/a
Dec 1	Skins Game	California	540,000	Fred Couples	n/a	Limited-field event
Dec 8	JCPenney Classic	Florida	1,500,000	Donna Andrews and Mike Hulbert	n/a	Team event
Dec 15	Diners Club Matches	California	700,000	Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf	n/a	Team event

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[4][5]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Tom Lehman	1,780,159
2	Phil Mickelson	1,697,799
3	Mark Brooks	1,429,396
4	Steve Stricker	1,383,739
5	Mark O'Meara	1,255,749
6	Fred Couples	1,248,694
7	Davis Love III	1,211,139
8	Brad Faxon	1,055,050
9	Scott Hoch	1,039,564
10	David Duval	977,079

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy)	Tom Lehman	[5]
PGA Player of the Year	Tom Lehman	[6]
Rookie of the Year	Tiger Woods	[5]
Scoring leader (PGA Tour – Byron Nelson Award)	Tom Lehman	[5]
Scoring leader (PGA – Vardon Trophy)	Tom Lehman	[6]
Comeback Player of the Year	Steve Jones	[5]