1981 European Tour
The 1981 European Tour was the 10th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.
| Duration | 23 April 1981 – 25 October 1981 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 22 |
| Most wins | 2 – Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Manuel Piñero |
| Order of Merit | Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Jeremy Bennett |
← 1980 1982 → | |
The Order of Merit was won by West Germany's Bernhard Langer.
Rule changes
The local rule that had been introduced on the tour in 1976 which allowed spike marks to be repaired was rescinded, and a local rule that prohibited touching of the line of a putt with a club was introduced.[1]
Schedule
The table below shows the 1981 European Tour schedule which was made up of 22 tournaments counting for the Official Money List, and some non-counting tournaments later known as "Approved Special Events".[2][1] There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Lawrence Batley International,[3] and the loss of the Newcastle Brown "900" Open and the Merseyside International Open.
| Dates | Tournament | Host country | Winner[lower-alpha 1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9–12 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States |  |
Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
| 23–26 Apr | Madrid Open | Spain | .svg.png){kind=small} |
|
| 30 Apr – 3 May | Italian Open | Italy | |
|
| 7–10 May | Paco Rabanne Open de France | France |  |
|
| 14–17 May | Martini International | England | .svg.png){kind=small} |
|
| 22–25 May | Sun Alliance PGA Championship | England |  |
|
| 28–31 May | Dunlop Masters | England | |
|
| 4–7 Jun | Lawrence Batley International | England | |
New tournament |
| 11–14 Jun | Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open | England | |
|
| 18–21 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | |
Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
| 18–21 Jun | Billy Butlin Jersey Open | Jersey | |
|
| 25–28 Jun | Coral Classic | Wales |  |
|
| 2–5 Jul | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | |
|
| 8–11 Jul | State Express Classic | England | |
|
| 16–19 Jul | The Open Championship | England | |
Major championship |
| 23–26 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | .svg.png){kind=small} |
|
| 30 Jul – 2 Aug | German Open | West Germany |  |
|
| 6–9 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | |
Major championship; non-tour event[lower-alpha 1] |
| 13–16 Aug | Carroll's Irish Open | Republic of Ireland | |
|
| 20–23 Aug | Benson and Hedges International Open | England | |
|
| 27–30 Aug | Swiss Open | Switzerland | |
|
| 3–6 Sep | Dixcel Tissues European Open | England | |
|
| 10–13 Sep | Haig Whisky TPC | Scotland | |
|
| 18–20 Sept | Ryder Cup | England | |
Approved special event; team event |
| 24–27 Sep | Bob Hope British Classic | England | |
|
| 1–4 Oct | Benson and Hedges Spanish Open | Spain | |
|
| 8–11 Oct | Suntory World Match Play | England | |
Approved special event |
| 15–18 Oct | Lancome Trophy | France | |
Approved special event |
| 22–25 Oct | Cacharel World Under-25 Championship | France | |
Approved special 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.
Official Money List
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Official Money List". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernhard Langer | | 81,036 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo | | 48,109 |
| 3 | Sandy Lyle | | 44,732 |
| 4 | Greg Norman | | 44,254 |
| 5 | Manuel Piñero | | 39,640 |
| 6 | Sam Torrance | | 36,012 |
| 7 | Seve Ballesteros | | 35,154 |
| 8 | Des Smyth | | 29,105 |
| 9 | Eamonn Darcy | | 25,805 |
| 10 | José Maria Cañizares | | 25,529 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Jeremy Bennett | |
References
- Plumridge, Christopher (17 December 1980). "Putting an end to Europe's spiky problem". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jacobs, Raymond (17 December 1980). "Putting an end to Europe's spiky problem". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 17. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "Chairman's tournament". The Times. London, England. 16 December 1980. p. 22. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.