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1988 European Tour

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1988 European Tour season
Duration10 March 1988 (1988-03-10) – 30 October 1988 (1988-10-30)
Number of official events30[a]
Most winsSpain Seve Ballesteros (5)
Order of MeritSpain Seve Ballesteros
Golfer of the YearSpain Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearScotland Colin Montgomerie
1987
1989

The 1988 European Tour, titled as the 1988 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Volvo title sponsorship

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In May 1987, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, being renamed as the Volvo Tour.[1] The agreement was reported to be worth £10,000,000 over five years.[2]

Changes for 1988

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The season was made up of 30 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 Torras Hostench Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International.[4][5] The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.[6]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1988 season.[7]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)
Winner[b] OWGR
points
Notes
13 Mar Mallorca Open de Baleares Spain 200,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (35) 20 New tournament
20 Mar Torras Hostench Barcelona Open Spain 200,000 England David Whelan (1) 18
3 Apr AGF Biarritz Open France 150,000 Wales David Llewellyn (1) 16 New tournament
10 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$1,000,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle (14) 100 Major championship[c]
17 Apr Cannes Open France 200,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (7) 20
24 Apr Cepsa Madrid Open Spain 200,000 England Derrick Cooper (1) 22
1 May Portuguese Open Portugal 200,000 Australia Mike Harwood (1) 18
8 May Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship Wales 275,000 West Germany Bernhard Langer (19) 40 Limited-field event
15 May Peugeot Spanish Open Spain 175,000 England Mark James (9) 38
22 May Lancia Italian Open Italy 225,000 Australia Greg Norman (12) 24
30 May Volvo PGA Championship England 300,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (9) 44
5 Jun Dunhill British Masters England 250,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle (15) 42
12 Jun Wang Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity England 200,000 Australia Rodger Davis (3) 20 Pro-Am
19 Jun Volvo Belgian Open Belgium 200,000 Spain José María Olazábal (3) 16
19 Jun U.S. Open United States US$1,000,000 United States Curtis Strange (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
26 Jun Peugeot Open de France France 275,000 England Nick Faldo (14) 40
2 Jul Monte Carlo Open France 200,000 Spain José Rivero (3) 24
9 Jul Bell's Scottish Open Scotland 250,000 England Barry Lane (1) 44
17 Jul The Open Championship England 500,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (36) 100 Major championship
24 Jul KLM Dutch Open Netherlands 250,000 Wales Mark Mouland (2) 34
31 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 250,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (37) 34
7 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 250,000 England Peter Baker (1) 38
14 Aug PLM Open Sweden 200,000 New Zealand Frank Nobilo (1) 16
14 Aug PGA Championship United States US$1,000,000 United States Jeff Sluman (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
21 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 225,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (10) 42
28 Aug German Open West Germany 275,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (38) 38
4 Sep Ebel European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 400,000 England Chris Moody (1) 44
11 Sep Panasonic European Open England 300,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (11) 42
18 Sep Trophée Lancôme France 400,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (39) 46 Limited-field event
25 Sep German Masters West Germany 300,000 Spain José María Olazábal (4) 44
2 Oct English Open England 175,000 England Howard Clark (11) 16 New tournament
9 Oct
6 Mar
Moroccan Open Morocco Cancelled
23 Oct BNP Jersey Open Jersey 125,000 Republic of Ireland Des Smyth (6) 16
30 Oct Volvo Masters Spain 350,000 England Nick Faldo (15) 44 New tournament
Tour Championship

Unofficial events

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

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)
Winner(s) OWGR
points
Notes
10 Oct Suntory World Match Play Championship England 275,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle 32 Limited-field event
16 Oct Dunhill Cup Scotland US$1,000,000 Team England n/a Team event
18 Oct Equity & Law Challenge England 125,000 Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty n/a
27 Oct UAP European Under-25 Championship France n/a France Jean van de Velde n/a
6 Nov Europcar Cup France n/a Team Sweden n/a Team event
13 Nov Benson & Hedges Trophy Spain 200,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty and
France Marie-Laure Taya
n/a Team event
11 Dec World Cup Australia US$750,000 United States Ben Crenshaw and
United States Mark McCumber
n/a Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy United States Ben Crenshaw n/a
18 Dec Kirin Cup United States US$1,000,000 Team USA n/a Team event

Order of Merit

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The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[8][9]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1 Spain Seve Ballesteros 451,560
2 England Nick Faldo 347,971
3 Spain José María Olazábal 285,964
4 Wales Ian Woosnam 234,991
5 Scotland Sandy Lyle 186,018
6 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 180,992
7 Republic of Ireland Des Smyth 171,951
8 England Mark James 152,900
9 Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty 132,395
10 Spain José Rivero 131,079

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year Spain Seve Ballesteros [10]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Scotland Colin Montgomerie [11]

Notes

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  1. ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
  2. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of European Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for European Tour members and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins.
  3. ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

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  1. ^ White, Graeme (26 May 1987). "Volvo boost for Euro golf". Black Country Evening Mail. West Bromwich, United Kingdom. p. 33. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Williams, Michael (26 May 1987). "PGA Tour in £10m Volvo deal". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 29. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Davies, David (1 December 1987). "Rich pickings for Europe's Volvo drivers". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. ^ "At last! English get their own Open". Irish Independent. 26 January 1988. p. 15. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Sport in brief | Open closed". The Times. 12 September 1988. p. 38. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ "1988 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Golf | European Order of Merit". Birmingham Metronews. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 2 November 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Moseley, Ron (1 November 1988). "Europeans on top of the world". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Huddersfield, United Kingdom. Press Association. p. 13. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Laidlaw, Renton (20 December 1988). "Seve wins another award". Evening Standard. London, United Kingdom. p. 38. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Colin named top 'Rookie'". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. 14 November 1988. p. 17. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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