1988 European Tour
The 1988 European Tour was the 17th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour. It marked the beginning of a long association for the tour with Swedish car maker Volvo, who became the tour's first official title sponsor.[1][2]
| Duration | 10 March 1988 – 18 December 1988 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 29 |
| Most wins | 5 – Seve Ballesteros |
| Order of Merit | Seve Ballesteros |
| Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Colin Montgomerie |
← 1987 1989 → | |
The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.
Schedule
The table below shows the 1988 European Tour schedule which was made up of 29 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 Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International.[1][4] The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.[5]
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- 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.
Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.[2]
| Position | Player | Country | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros |  Spain | 451,560 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo |  England | 347,971 |
| 3 | José María Olazábal | Spain | 285,964 |
| 4 | Ian Woosnam | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales | 234,991 |
| 5 | Sandy Lyle |  Scotland | 186,018 |
| 6 | Mark McNulty |  Zimbabwe | 180,992 |
| 7 | Des Smyth |  Ireland | 171,951 |
| 8 | Mark James | England | 152,900 |
| 9 | Ronan Rafferty |  Northern Ireland | 132,395 |
| 10 | José Rivero | Spain | 131,079 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros | Spain |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Colin Montgomerie | Scotland |
References
- Davies, David (1 December 1987). "Rich pickings for Europe's Volvo drivers". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- 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.
- "At last! English get their own Open". Irish Independent. 26 January 1988. p. 15. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Sport in brief | Open closed". The Times. 12 September 1988. p. 38. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- "Events | European Tour | 1988". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 26 April 2020.