2003 European Tour
The 2003 European Tour was the 32nd season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
Duration | 21 November 2002 – 18 November 2003 |
---|---|
Number of official events | 45 |
Most wins | 4 – Ernie Els |
Order of Merit | Ernie Els |
Golfer of the Year | Ernie Els |
Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Peter Lawrie |
← 2002 2004 → |
The Order of Merit was won for the first time by South African Ernie Els.
Schedule
The table below shows the 2003 European Tour schedule which was made up of 45 tournaments counting towards the Order of Merit, which included the four major championships and three World Golf Championships, and three non-counting "Approved Special Events".
There were four new tournaments to the European Tour in 2003, the Nordic Open[1] and three dual-ranking events, the Aa St Omer Open, BMW Russian Open and Mallorca Classic. Lost from the tour schedule were the English Open, Great North Open and the dual-ranking North West of Ireland Open.[2]
Dates | Tournament | Host country | Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points[3] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
21–24 Nov | BMW Asian Open | Taiwan | 16 | Co-sanctioned with the Davidoff Tour | |
28 Nov – 1 Dec | Omega Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | 16 | Co-sanctioned with the Davidoff Tour | |
9–12 Jan | South African Airways Open | South Africa | 32 | Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour | |
16–19 Jan | Dunhill Championship | South Africa | 18 | Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour | |
23–26 Jan | Caltex Masters | Singapore | 20 | Co-sanctioned with the Davidoff Tour | |
30 Jan – 2 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | 30 | Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia | |
6–9 Feb | ANZ Championship | Australia | 30 | Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia | |
13–16 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | 44 | Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Davidoff Tour | |
20–23 Feb | Carlsberg Malaysian Open | Malaysia | 20 | Co-sanctioned with the Davidoff Tour | |
26 Feb – 2 Mar | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | 76 | World Golf Championships | |
6–9 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | United Arab Emirates | 30 | ||
13–16 Mar | Qatar Masters | Qatar | 24 | ||
20–23 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | 24 | Dual ranking event with the Challenge Tour | |
10–13 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | 100 | Major championship | |
17–20 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | 24 | ||
24–27 Apr | Canarias Open de España | Spain | 24 | ||
1–4 May | Italian Open Telecom Italia | Italy | 24 | ||
8–11 May | Benson and Hedges International Open | England | 42 | ||
15–18 May | Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe | Germany | 48 | ||
22–25 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | 64 | Flagship event | |
29 May – 1 Jun | Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open | Wales | 24 | ||
5–8 Jun | Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters | England | 24 | ||
12–15 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | 100 | Major championship | |
12–15 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | 16 | Alternate to the U.S. Open; dual ranking event with the Challenge Tour | |
19–22 Jun | Diageo Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | 24 | ||
26–29 Jun | Open de France | France | 24 | ||
3–6 Jul | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | 44 | ||
10–13 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | 50 | ||
17–20 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | 100 | Major championship | |
24–27 Jul | Nissan Irish Open | Ireland | 24 | ||
31 Jul – 3 Aug | Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | 24 | ||
7–10 Aug | Nordic Open | Denmark | 24 | ||
14–17 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | 100 | Major championship | |
14–17 Aug | BMW Russian Open | Russia | 16 | Alternate to the PGA Championship; dual ranking event with the Challenge Tour | |
21–24 Aug | WGC-NEC Invitational | United States | 78 | World Golf Championships | |
28–31 Aug | BMW International Open | Germany | 30 | ||
4–7 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | 30 | ||
11–14 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 26 | ||
18–21 Sep | Linde German Masters | Germany | 48 | ||
25–28 Sep | Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | 52 | ||
2–5 Oct | WGC-American Express Championship | United States | 76 | World Golf Championships | |
9–12 Oct | Dutch Open | Netherlands | 24 | ||
16–19 Oct | HSBC World Match Play Championship | England | n/a[lower-alpha 2] | Approved special event | |
16–19 Oct | Turespaña Mallorca Classic | Spain | 16 | Alternate to the World Match Play; dual ranking event with the Challenge Tour | |
23–26 Oct | Telefonica Open de Madrid | Spain | 30 | ||
30 Oct – 2 Nov | Volvo Masters Andalucia | Spain | 46 | ||
6–9 Nov | Seve Trophy | Spain | n/a | Approved special event; team event | |
15–18 Nov | WGC-World Cup | United States | n/a | World Golf Championships; 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 which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998 and have been retrospectively recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- Limited field events were not eligible for ranking points between 2000 and 2003.[4]
Order of Merit
In 2003, the European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was calculated in euro, although around half of the events had prize funds which were fixed in other currencies, mostly either British pounds or U.S. dollars. In these instances the amounts were converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament was played. The top 10 golfers in 2003 were:
Position | Player | Country | Prize money (€) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ernie Els | 2,975,374 | |
2 | Darren Clarke | 2,210,051 | |
3 | Pádraig Harrington | 1,555,623 | |
4 | Fredrik Jacobson | 1,521,303 | |
5 | Ian Poulter | 1,500,855 | |
6 | Paul Casey | 1,360,456 | |
7 | Lee Westwood | 1,330,713 | |
8 | Thomas Bjørn | 1,327,148 | |
9 | Brian Davis | 1,245,513 | |
10 | Phillip Price | 1,234,018 |
Awards
Award | Winner | Country |
---|---|---|
European Tour Golfer of the Year | Ernie Els | |
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Peter Lawrie |
References
- "Nordic Open will make debut in 2003". ESPN. Reuters. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 5 May 2003.
- "Golf". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. 27 November 2002. p. 2C. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Events | European Tour | 2003". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 5 May 2020.