1984 European Tour
Year1984
TourEuropean Tour
Regular season12 April 1984 – 4 November 1984
No of events26[a]
Most winsBernhard Langer (4)
Honor 1Order of Merit
Honoree 1Bernhard Langer
Honor 2Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year
Honoree 2Philip Parkin
Prevseason1983
Nextseason1985

The 1984 European Tour, titled as the 1984 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 13th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1984

The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2][3]

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Monte Carlo Open,[4] the Celtic International[5] and the Cannes Open;[6] and the loss of the Martini International[7] and the British Masters.[3] In addition the English Golf Classic was merged with the Lawrence Batley International.

Soon after the schedule was revealed, it was announced that the Bob Hope British Classic had been cancelled;[8] the Sanyo Open was brought forward from October to fill the vacated dates.

Order of Merit name change

The money list reverted to its original title as the "Order of Merit", having been known as the "Official money list" for the preceding four seasons.[1] In March, it was announced that Sperry Corporation would title sponsor the Order of Merit, being renamed as the Sperry Order of Merit.[9]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1984 season.[10]

DateTournamentHost countryPurse
(£)
Winner[b]Notes
15 AprTunisian OpenTunisia65,000Sam Torrance (8)
15 AprMasters TournamentUnited StatesUS$600,000Ben Crenshaw (n/a)Major championship[c]
29 AprCepsa Madrid OpenSpain85,000Howard Clark (3)
6 MayItalian OpenItaly85,000Sandy Lyle (9)
13 MayCar Care Plan InternationalEngland100,000Nick Faldo (11)
20 MayPeugeot Open de FranceFrance85,000Bernhard Langer (8)
28 MayWhyte & Mackay PGA ChampionshipEngland150,000Howard Clark (4)
3 JunJersey OpenJersey60,000Bernard Gallacher (10)
10 JunSt. Mellion Timeshare TPCEngland100,000Jaime Gonzalez (1)
17 JunTimex OpenFrance75,000Mike Clayton (1)
17 JunU.S. OpenUnited StatesUS$600,000Fuzzy Zoeller (n/a)Major championship[c]
24 JunMonte Carlo OpenFrance75,000Ian Mosey (2)New tournament
1 JulGlasgow OpenScotland80,000Ken Brown (3)
8 JulScandinavian Enterprise OpenSweden135,000Ian Woosnam (3)
14 JulLawrence Batley International Golf ClassicEngland110,000José Rivero (1)
22 JulThe Open ChampionshipScotland425,000Seve Ballesteros (23)Major championship
29 JulKLM Dutch OpenNetherlands100,000Bernhard Langer (9)
5 AugCarroll's Irish OpenIreland110,000Bernhard Langer (10)
12 AugCeltic InternationalIreland75,000Gordon Brand Jnr (3)New tournament
19 AugBenson & Hedges International OpenEngland120,000Sam Torrance (9)
19 AugPGA ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$700,000Lee Trevino (n/a)Major championship[c]
26 AugLufthansa German OpenWest Germany100,000Wayne Grady (1)
2 SepEbel European Masters Swiss OpenSwitzerland160,000Jerry Anderson (1)
9 SepPanasonic European OpenEngland150,000Gordon Brand Jnr (4)
23 SepBob Hope British ClassicEngland–CancelledPro-Am
23 Sep
28 Oct
Sanyo OpenSpain100,000Sam Torrance (10)
7 OctTrophée LancômeFrance110,000Sandy Lyle (10)Limited-field event
14 OctBenson & Hedges Spanish OpenSpain85,000Bernhard Langer (11)
21 OctCompagnie de Chauffe Cannes OpenFrance75,000David Frost (1)New to European Tour
4 NovPortuguese OpenPortugal55,000Tony Johnstone (1)

Unofficial events

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

DateTournamentHost countryPurse
(£)
Winner(s)Notes
16 SepHennessy Cognac CupEnglandn/aTeam EnglandTeam event
30 SepSuntory World Match Play ChampionshipEngland150,000Seve BallesterosLimited-field event
18 NovWorld CupItalyUS$150,000José María Cañizares and
José Rivero
Team event
World Cup Individual TrophyJosé María Cañizares

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Sperry Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[11][12]

PositionPlayerPrize money (£)
1Bernhard Langer139,344
2Sam Torrance112,657
3Howard Clark101,903
4Sandy Lyle99,649
5Seve Ballesteros96,503
6Ian Woosnam62,080
7Gordon Brand Jnr59,116
8José María Cañizares57,418
9Jerry Anderson56,121
10David Frost55,642

Awards

AwardWinnerRef.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearPhilip Parkin[13]

Notes

  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. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

  1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived 4 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (18 November 1983). "£4m jackpot for European golfers". Glasgow Herald. p. 29. Retrieved 8 June 2020. – via Google News Archive.
  3. ^ "£3m tour package". The Guardian. 18 November 1983. p. 25. Retrieved 7 June 2020. – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Davies, David (27 September 1983). "High stakes in Monte". The Guardian. p. 22. Retrieved 8 June 2020. – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Nigel beats his handicap". The Guardian. 11 November 1983. Retrieved 6 June 2020. – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Platts, Mitchell (17 November 1983). "European golf cash soars to over £3m". Aberdeen Evening Express. p. 14. Retrieved 8 June 2020. – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Hennessy, John (28 July 1983). "Martini pulls out of tour". The Times. p. 20. Retrieved 8 June 2020. – via The Times Digital Archive.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (25 November 1983). "No Hope as sponsors pull out". Glasgow Herald. p. 24. Retrieved 8 June 2020. – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "It's the rich that get the gravy". Manchester Evening News. 29 March 1984. p. 72. Retrieved 21 October 2023. – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "1984 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  11. ^ Lowe, Desmond (17 November 1984). "Waites slips out of top 20". Football Post. p. 21. Retrieved 21 October 2023. – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Congratulations to Bernhard Langer Europe's No. 1 Golfer". Evening Standard. 5 November 1984. p. 39. Retrieved 21 October 2023. – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Parkin takes rookie award". Evening Standard. 7 November 1984. p. 44. Retrieved 21 October 2023. – via Newspapers.com.