1986 European Tour

1986 European Tour season
Duration10 April 1986 (1986-04-10) – 26 October 1986 (1986-10-26)
Number of official events26[a]
Most winsSpain Seve Ballesteros (6)
Order of MeritSpain Seve Ballesteros
Golfer of the YearSpain Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearSpain José María Olazábal
← 1985
1987 →

The 1986 European Tour, titled as the 1986 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 15th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1986

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship and the PLM Open;[2][3] the return of the Bell's Scottish Open, as the Glasgow Open was rebranded,[4] and the loss of the GSI L'Equipe Open.

Before the season started, the Tunisian Open, scheduled as the opening event opposite the Masters Tournament, was cancelled after sponsors withdrew funding for the event.[5]

Order of Merit minimum tournaments

In 1986 the minimum number of tournaments needed to qualify for the Order of Merit was increased from seven to nine.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1986 season.[6]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[b] OWGR
points 		Notes
13 Apr Tunisian Open Tunisia – Cancelled –
13 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$785,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
20 Apr Suze Open France 100,000 South Africa John Bland (2) 20
27 Apr Cepsa Madrid Open Spain 125,000 England Howard Clark (7) 20
4 May Italian Open Italy 100,000 Northern Ireland David Feherty (1) 20
11 May Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship Wales 125,000 Sweden Ove Sellberg (1) 20 New tournament
Limited-field event
18 May Peugeot Spanish Open Spain 150,000 England Howard Clark (8) 40
26 May Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship England 200,000 Australia Rodger Davis (2) 40
1 Jun London Standard Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity England 150,000 Spain Antonio Garrido (5) 20 Pro-Am
8 Jun Dunhill British Masters England 200,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (28) 40
15 Jun Jersey Open Jersey 80,000 England John Morgan (1) 20
15 Jun U.S. Open United States US$700,000 United States Raymond Floyd (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
22 Jun Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 200,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (29) 40
28 Jun Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open France 150,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (30) 20
7 Jul Peugeot Open de France France 125,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (31) 40
12 Jul Car Care Plan International England 100,000 Wales Mark Mouland (1) 20
20 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 600,000 Australia Greg Norman (10) 100 Major championship
27 Jul KLM Dutch Open Netherlands 150,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (32) 40
3 Aug Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 150,000 New Zealand Greg Turner (1) 40
10 Aug PLM Open Sweden 125,000 Australia Peter Senior (1) 20 New to European Tour
10 Aug PGA Championship United States US$800,000 United States Bob Tway (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
17 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 175,000 England Mark James (8) 40
24 Aug Bell's Scottish Open Scotland 125,000 Northern Ireland David Feherty (2) 20
31 Aug German Open West Germany 175,000 West Germany Bernhard Langer (15) 24
7 Sep Ebel European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 275,000 Spain José María Olazábal (1) 40
14 Sep Panasonic European Open England 200,000 Australia Greg Norman (11) 44
21 Sep Lawrence Batley International T.P.C. England 125,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (4) 20
12 Oct Sanyo Open Spain 175,000 Spain José María Olazábal (2) 40
19 Oct Trophée Lancôme France 175,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (33)
West Germany Bernhard Langer (16) 		34 Title shared[d]
Limited-field event
26 Oct Portuguese Open Portugal 100,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (3) 20

Unofficial events

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
28 Sep Dunhill Cup Scotland US$1,000,000 Team Australia n/a Team event
5 Oct Suntory World Match Play Championship England 175,000 Australia Greg Norman 32 Limited-field event

Order of Merit

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 Spain Seve Ballesteros 242,209
2 Spain José María Olazábal 136,775
3 England Howard Clark 121,903
4 Wales Ian Woosnam 111,799
5 England Gordon J. Brand 106,314
6 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 101,327
7 Australia Rodger Davis 95,429
8 Sweden Anders Forsbrand 84,706
9 Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty 80,336
10 Scotland Gordon Brand Jnr 78,639

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year Spain Seve Ballesteros [9]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Spain José María Olazábal [10]

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. ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
  4. ^ Langer and Ballesteros were declared joint winners as they remained tied after failing light caused play to halt after four holes of a playoff.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ Davies, David (6 November 1985). "US shutters come down". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 28. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Platts, Mitchell (6 November 1985). "Dates for richer tour". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 23. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ "Scottish Open rings the bell". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, United Kingdom. 10 June 1986. p. 21. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Tour change". The Times. London, United Kingdom. 11 January 1986. p. 21. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ "1986 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  7. ^ Davies, David (20 October 1986). "Ballesteros and Langer go halves". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 29. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Williams, Michael (28 October 1986). "£1m more prize money for European circuit". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 30. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Super Sevvy". Evening Post. Bristol, United Kingdom. 30 December 1986. p. 27. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Glover, Tim (30 October 1986). "Olazabal voted rookie of year". The Independent. London, United Kingdom. p. 26. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.