1988 European Tour
The 1988 European Tour was the 17th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour. It marked the beginning of a long association for the tour with Swedish car maker Volvo, who became the tour's first official title sponsor.[1][2]
Duration | 10 March 1988 – 18 December 1988 |
---|---|
Number of official events | 29 |
Most wins | 5 – Seve Ballesteros |
Order of Merit | Seve Ballesteros |
Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros |
Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Colin Montgomerie |
← 1987 1989 → |
The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.
Schedule
The table below shows the 1988 European Tour schedule which was made up of 29 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".[3] There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Open de Baleares, the Biarritz Open, the English Open and the Volvo Masters; the return of the Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International.[1][4] The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.[5]
Dates | Tournament | Host country | Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points[6] |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10–13 Mar | Mallorca Open de Baleares | Spain | ![]() |
20 | New tournament |
17–20 Mar | Torras Hostench Barcelona Open | Spain | ![]() |
18 | |
31 Mar – 3 Apr | AGF Biarritz Open | France | ![]() |
16 | New tournament |
7–10 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | ![]() |
100 | Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
14–17 Apr | Cannes Open | France | ![]() |
20 | |
21–24 Apr | Cepsa Madrid Open | Spain | ![]() |
22 | |
28 Apr – 1 May | Portuguese Open | Portugal | ![]() |
18 | |
5–8 May | Epson Grand Prix of Europe | Wales | ![]() |
40 | |
12–15 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | ![]() |
38 | |
19–22 May | Lancia Italian Open | Italy | ![]() |
24 | |
27–30 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | ![]() |
44 | |
2–5 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | ![]() |
42 | |
9–12 Jun | Wang Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity | England | ![]() |
20 | |
16–19 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | ![]() |
100 | Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
16–19 Jun | Volvo Belgian Open | Belgium | ![]() |
16 | |
23–26 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | ![]() |
40 | |
29 Jun – 2 Jul | Monte Carlo Open | Monaco | ![]() |
24 | |
6–9 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | ![]() |
44 | |
14–17 Jul | The Open Championship | England | ![]() |
100 | Major championship |
21–24 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | ![]() |
34 | |
28–31 Jul | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | ![]() |
34 | |
4–7 Aug | Benson and Hedges International Open | England | ![]() |
38 | |
11–14 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | ![]() |
100 | Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
11–14 Aug | PLM Open | Sweden | ![]() |
16 | |
18–21 Aug | Carroll's Irish Open | Republic of Ireland | ![]() |
42 | |
25–28 Aug | German Open | West Germany | ![]() |
38 | |
1–4 Sep | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | ![]() |
44 | |
8–11 Sep | Panasonic European Open | England | ![]() |
42 | |
15–18 Sep | Lancome Trophy | France | ![]() |
46 | |
22–25 Sep | German Masters | West Germany | ![]() |
44 | |
29 Sep – 2 Oct | English Open | England | ![]() |
16 | New tournament |
6–10 Oct | Suntory World Match Play | England | ![]() |
32 | Approved Special Event |
Moroccan Open | Morocco | Cancelled | |||
13–16 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; team event |
17–18 Oct | Equity & Law Challenge | England | ![]() |
Approved Special Event | |
20–23 Oct | BNP Jersey Open | Jersey | ![]() |
16 | |
24–27 Oct | UAP European Under-25s Championship | France | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event |
27–30 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | ![]() |
44 | New tournament |
3–6 Nov | Europcar Cup | France | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; team event |
10–13 Nov | Benson & Hedges Trophy | Spain | ![]() ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; mixed pairs event |
8–11 Dec | World Cup | Australia | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; team event |
World Cup International Trophy | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; individual prize | ||
15–18 Dec | Kirin Cup | United States | ![]() |
n/a | Approved Special Event; team event |
- The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names show the number of official career wins they had on the European Tour up to and including that event. Totals are only shown for members of the European Tour and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships since, although not official tour events at the time, they have been recognised as such retrospecively. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.[2]
Position | Player | Country | Prize money (£) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Seve Ballesteros | ![]() | 451,560 |
2 | Nick Faldo | ![]() | 347,971 |
3 | José María Olazábal | ![]() | 285,964 |
4 | Ian Woosnam | ![]() | 234,991 |
5 | Sandy Lyle | ![]() | 186,018 |
6 | Mark McNulty | ![]() | 180,992 |
7 | Des Smyth | ![]() | 171,951 |
8 | Mark James | ![]() | 152,900 |
9 | Ronan Rafferty | ![]() | 132,395 |
10 | José Rivero | ![]() | 131,079 |
Awards
Award | Winner | Country |
---|---|---|
European Tour Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros | ![]() |
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Colin Montgomerie | ![]() |
References
- Davies, David (1 December 1987). "Rich pickings for Europe's Volvo drivers". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- Platts, Mitchell (1 December 1987). "Shooting for £10m in the rosy tour garden of Europe". The Times. p. 42. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- "At last! English get their own Open". Irish Independent. 26 January 1988. p. 15. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Sport in brief | Open closed". The Times. 12 September 1988. p. 38. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- "Events | European Tour | 1988". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 26 April 2020.