The 1987 European Tour, titled as the 1987 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 16th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 19 March 1987 – 1 November 1987 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 27[a] |
| Most wins |  Ian Woosnam (4) |
| Order of Merit | Ian Woosnam |
| Golfer of the Year | Ian Woosnam |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Peter Baker |
← 1986 1988 → | |
Changes for 1987 edit
The season was made up of 27 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2][3]
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Moroccan Open[4] and the German Masters,[3] the return of the Volvo Belgian Open and the loss of the Car Care Plan International.
Schedule edit
The following table lists official events during the 1987 season.[5]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (£) |
Winner[b] | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Mar | Moroccan Open | Morocco | 175,000 | Howard Clark (9)
|
16 | New tournament |
| 12 Apr | Jersey Open | Jersey | 100,000 | Ian Woosnam (5)
|
16 | |
| 12 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$875,000 |  Larry Mize (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 19 Apr | Suze Open | France | 150,000 |  Seve Ballesteros (34)
|
22 | |
| 26 Apr | Cepsa Madrid Open | Spain | 175,000 | Ian Woosnam (6)
|
22 | |
| 3 May | Lancia Italian Open | Italy | 150,000 |  Sam Torrance (12)
|
18 | |
| 10 May | Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship | Wales | 250,000 |  Mats Lanner (1)
|
42 | Limited-field event |
| 17 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 175,000 | Nick Faldo (12)
|
42 | |
| 25 May | Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship | England | 225,000 |  Bernhard Langer (17)
|
44 | |
| 31 May | London Standard Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity | England | 150,000 |  Mark McNulty (4)
|
16 | Pro-Am |
| 7 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 200,000 | Mark McNulty (5)
|
40 | |
| 13 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | 250,000 | José Rivero (2)
|
38 | |
| 20 Jun | Volvo Belgian Open | Belgium | 150,000 |  Eamonn Darcy (3)
|
14 | |
| 21 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$825,000 | Scott Simpson (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 27 Jun | Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open | France | 200,000 |  Peter Senior (2)
|
22 | |
| 5 Jul | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 225,000 | Bernhard Langer (18)
|
44 | |
| 11 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | 200,000 | Ian Woosnam (7)
|
44 | |
| 19 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | 650,000 | Nick Faldo (13)
|
100 | Major championship |
| 26 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | 175,000 | Gordon Brand Jnr (5)
|
40 | |
| 2 Aug | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | 200,000 | Gordon Brand Jnr (6)
|
34 | |
| 9 Aug | PLM Open | Sweden | 150,000 | Howard Clark (10)
|
16 | |
| 9 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$900,000 | Larry Nelson (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 16 Aug | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 200,000 | Noel Ratcliffe (2)
|
42 | |
| 23 Aug | Lawrence Batley International | England | 150,000 | Mark O'Meara (n/a)
|
22 | |
| 30 Aug | German Open | West Germany | 275,000 | Mark McNulty (6)
|
38 | |
| 6 Sep | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 350,000 | Anders Forsbrand (1)
|
42 | |
| 13 Sep | Panasonic European Open | England | 225,000 | Paul Way (3)
|
48 | |
| 20 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 300,000 | Ian Woosnam (8)
|
46 | Limited-field event |
| 11 Oct | German Masters | West Germany | 275,000 | Sandy Lyle (13)
|
46 | New tournament |
| Barcelona Open | Spain | – | Cancelled[d] | – | ||
| 1 Nov | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 100,000 | Robert Lee (2)
|
12 |
Unofficial events edit
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep | Vernons Open | England | 60,000 | David Llewellyn
|
12 | |
| 27 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a |  Team Europe
|
n/a | Team event |
| 4 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,000,000 | Team England
|
n/a | Team event |
| 13 Oct | Equity & Law Challenge | England | 120,000 | Barry Lane
|
n/a | New tournament |
| 18 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 275,000 | Ian Woosnam
|
32 | Limited-field event |
| 8 Nov | Kirin Cup | Japan | US$950,000 | Team USA
|
n/a | Team event |
| Kirin Cup Individual Trophy | n/a | Tom Kite
|
n/a | |||
| 21 Nov | World Cup | United States | US$750,000 | David Llewellyn and Ian Woosnam
|
n/a | Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Ian Woosnam
|
n/a |
Order of Merit edit
The Order of Merit was titled as the Epson Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[8]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Woosnam |
253,717 |
| 2 | Mark McNulty |
189,304 |
| 3 | Nick Faldo |
181,833 |
| 4 | Gordon Brand Jnr |
147,787 |
| 5 | Bernhard Langer |
141,394 |
| 6 | Seve Ballesteros |
138,843 |
| 7 | Peter Senior |
126,091 |
| 8 | Rodger Davis |
122,754 |
| 9 | Sam Torrance |
122,556 |
| 10 | Howard Clark |
122,535 |
Awards edit
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | Ian Woosnam |
[9] |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Peter Baker |
[10] |
Notes edit
- ^ A further one tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
- ^ Tournament initially postponed and then later cancelled due to bad weather rendering the course unplayable.[6][7]
References edit
- ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Davies, David (28 October 1986). "Money for European Tour raised to £6.5m". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 31. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "German event lifts tour pool to record". The Times. London, United Kingdom. 18 February 1987. p. 38. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "PGA's road to Morocco". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 16 December 1986. p. 27. Retrieved 27 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1987 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 15 October 1987. p. 30. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Miller, David (20 October 1987). "Threat to the welfare of golf". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 48. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Final statistics from European and US Tours | Top European earners". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 17 November 1987. p. 40. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Moseley, Ron (15 December 1987). "Ian is Ritz golfer of year". Reading Evening Post. Reading, United Kingdom. p. 18. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rookie prize pays for tour". Evening Post. Nottingham, United Kingdom. 9 December 1987. p. 18. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.