The 1991 European Tour, titled as the 1991 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 7 February 1991 – 27 October 1991 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 34[a] |
| Most wins |  Ian Woosnam (3) |
| Order of Merit |  Seve Ballesteros |
| Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Per-Ulrik Johansson |
← 1990 1992 → | |
It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, that was announced in May 1987.[1]
Changes for 1991 edit
There were several changes from the previous season, with the return of both the Catalan Open and the Jersey Open; the addition of the Girona Open; the loss of the Tenerife Open; and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the PLM Open were merged to create the Scandinavian Masters.[2]
After provisionally being scheduled for 14–17 October, the Portuguese Open was moved to 21–24 March, taking the venue and dates of the Atlantic Open, which was lost from the calendar.[3] Also before the season started, three more tournaments were removed from the schedule; the Dubai Desert Classic was cancelled due to the Gulf War, the El Bosque Open was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship, and the AGF Open was cancelled as sponsors sought to replace the event's promotion company.[4] These changes resulted in a reduction to 34 counting tournaments for the Order of Merit.
Schedule edit
The following table lists official events during the 1991 season.[5]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (£) |
Winner[b] | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | – | Cancelled | – | ||
| El Bosque Open | Spain | – | Cancelled | – | ||
| 24 Feb | Girona Open | Spain | 250,000 |  Steven Richardson (1)
|
24 | New tournament |
| 3 Mar | Fujitsu Mediterranean Open | France | 400,000 | Ian Woosnam (17)
|
38 | |
| 10 Mar | Open de Baleares | Spain | 275,000 |  Gavan Levenson (2)
|
30 | |
| 17 Mar | Open Catalonia | Spain | 300,000 | José María Olazábal (10)
|
32 | |
| Vinho Verde Atlantic Open | Portugal | – | Cancelled | – | ||
| 24 Mar | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 275,000 | Steven Richardson (2)
|
16 | |
| 31 Mar | Volvo Open di Firenze | Italy | 200,000 | Anders Forsbrand (2)
|
16 | |
| AGF Open | France | – | Cancelled | – | ||
| 14 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$1,350,000 | Ian Woosnam (18)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 14 Apr | Jersey European Airways Open | Jersey | 200,000 |  Sam Torrance (14)
|
16 | |
| 21 Apr | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 400,000 |  Bernhard Langer (24)
|
52 | |
| 28 Apr | Madrid Open | Spain | 275,000 | Andrew Sherborne (1)
|
20 | |
| 5 May | Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open | France | 350,000 |  David Feherty (4)
|
24 | |
| 12 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 350,000 |  Eduardo Romero (3)
|
48 | |
| 19 May | Lancia Martini Italian Open | Italy | 325,000 |  Craig Parry (3)
|
42 | |
| 27 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | 500,000 | Seve Ballesteros (44)
|
64 | Flagship event |
| 2 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 450,000 | Seve Ballesteros (45)
|
42 | |
| 9 Jun | Murphy's Cup | England | 350,000 |  Tony Johnstone (3)
|
34 | |
| 16 Jun | Renault Belgian Open | Belgium | 250,000 | Per-Ulrik Johansson (1)
|
16 | |
| 16 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$1,300,000 |  Payne Stewart (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 23 Jun | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 375,000 | Nick Faldo (22)
|
48 | |
| 30 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | 400,000 | Eduardo Romero (4)
|
42 | |
| 6 Jul | Torras Monte Carlo Open | France | 400,000 | Ian Woosnam (19)
|
44 | |
| 13 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | 500,000 | Craig Parry (4)
|
56 | |
| 21 Jul | The Open Championship | England | 900,000 | Ian Baker-Finch (2)
|
100 | Major championship |
| 28 Jul | Heineken Dutch Open | Netherlands | 500,000 | Payne Stewart (n/a)
|
44 | |
| 4 Aug | Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | 600,000 | Colin Montgomerie (2)
|
48 | New tournament |
| 11 Aug | European Pro-Celebrity | England | 250,000 | Paul Broadhurst (2)
|
16 | Pro-Am |
| 11 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$1,350,000 | John Daly (1)
|
100 | Major championship[c] |
| 18 Aug | NM English Open | England | 450,000 | David Gilford (1)
|
30 | |
| 25 Aug | Volvo German Open | Germany | 525,000 | Mark McNulty (11)
|
30 | |
| 1 Sep | GA European Open | England | 500,000 | Mike Harwood (5)
|
52 | |
| 8 Sep | Canon European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 450,000 | Jeff Hawkes (1)
|
36 | |
| 15 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 450,000 |  Frank Nobilo (2)
|
56 | Limited-field event |
| 22 Sep | Epson Grand Prix of Europe | Wales | 450,000 | José María Olazábal (11)
|
38 | Limited-field event |
| 29 Sep | Mitsubishi Austrian Open | Austria | 250,000 | Mark Davis (1)
|
16 | |
| 6 Oct | Mercedes German Masters | Germany | 500,000 | Bernhard Langer (25)
|
50 | |
| 13 Oct | BMW International Open | Germany | 400,000 | Sandy Lyle (16)
|
38 | |
| 27 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | 600,000 | Rodger Davis (6)
|
52 | Tour Championship |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep | Equity & Law Challenge | England | 150,000 | Brian Marchbank
|
n/a | |
| 29 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a | Team USA
|
n/a | Team event |
| 13 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,700,000 | Team Sweden
|
n/a | Team event |
| 20 Oct | Toyota World Match Play Championship | England | 500,000 | Seve Ballesteros
|
48 | Limited-field event |
| 3 Nov | World Cup | Italy | US$1,100,000 | Anders Forsbrand and Per-Ulrik Johansson
|
n/a | Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Ian Woosnam
|
n/a | ||||
| 10 Nov | Benson & Hedges Trophy | Spain | 200,000 | Helen Alfredsson and Anders Forsbrand
|
n/a | Team event |
| 10 Nov | Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship | Australia | US$1,150,000 |  Team Europe
|
n/a | Team event |
| 22 Dec | Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship | Jamaica | US$2,500,000 | Fred Couples
|
64 | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit edit
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.[6][7]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros |
545,353 |
| 2 | Steven Richardson |
393,155 |
| 3 | Bernhard Langer |
372,703 |
| 4 | Colin Montgomerie |
343,575 |
| 5 | Craig Parry |
328,116 |
| 6 | Rodger Davis |
317,441 |
| 7 | José María Olazábal |
302,270 |
| 8 | Ian Woosnam |
257,433 |
| 9 | David Gilford |
249,240 |
| 10 | Nick Faldo |
245,892 |
Awards edit
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros |
[8] |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Per-Ulrik Johansson |
[9] |
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ A further four tournaments were scheduled but were 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.
References edit
- ^ 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.
- ^ Platts, Mitchell (13 October 1990). "Tour offers £20m pickings". The Times. p. 30. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "European Tour itinerary". The Observer. London, United Kingdom. 24 February 1991. p. 46. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 16 January 1991. p. 16. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1991 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Final Scores from Valderrama". The Times. 28 October 1991. p. 40. Retrieved 26 April 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ Williams, Michael (29 October 1991). "High returns for mediocrity may lead players to take soft option". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 17. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Whaley, David (11 December 1991). "Seve putts on the Ritz in Europe". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. p. 32. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Top rookie". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, United Kingdom. 27 November 1991. p. 46. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.