The 1979 European Tour, titled as the 1979 PGA European Golf Tour,[1] was the eighth season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 12 April 1979 – 6 October 1979 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 23 |
| Most wins |  Sandy Lyle (3) |
| Order of Merit | Sandy Lyle |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Mike Miller |
← 1978 1980 → | |
Changes for 1979 edit
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Welsh Golf Classic and Lada English Golf Classic. A new team event was also planned for France, replacing the Sumrie Better-Ball,[2] but it was not held.
Schedule edit
The following table lists official events during the 1979 season.[3][4]
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) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Aug | News of the World Under-23 Match Play Championship | England | 10,000 |  Ian Woosnam
|
|
| 16 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a |  Team USA
|
Team event |
| 30 Sep | Cacharel World Under-25 Championship | France | 20,000 |  Bernhard Langer
|
|
| 14 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 110,000 | Bill Rogers
|
Limited-field event |
| 28 Oct | Trophée Lancôme | France | 25,000 | Johnny Miller
|
|
| 11 Nov | World Cup | Greece | n/a | Hale Irwin and John Mahaffey
|
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Hale Irwin
|
Order of Merit edit
The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[4][5]
| Position | Player | Points | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle |
39,808 | 49,233 |
| 2 |  Seve Ballesteros |
37,026 | 47,411 |
| 3 |  Mark James |
32,494 | 38,534 |
| 4 |  Dale Hayes |
30,031 | 32,540 |
| 5 | Michael King |
26,283 | 29,725 |
| 6 | Brian Barnes |
26,218 | 28,204 |
| 7 | Ken Brown |
22,991 | 25,407 |
| 8 | Antonio Garrido |
21,825 | 24,665 |
| 9 | Tony Jacklin |
20,505 | 22,179 |
| 10 | Neil Coles |
19,186 | 21,351 |
Awards edit
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Mike Miller |
[6] |
Notes edit
- ^ 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
- ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Jacobs, Raymond (21 December 1978). "£1½m record prize money on European tour". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. Retrieved 11 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "1979 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ a b Simms, George (1979). World of Golf 1980. Macdonald and Jane's. pp. 83–128. ISBN 0362020078.
- ^ "Europa-touren-79" [European Tour-79]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 1. January 1980. p. 43. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Rookie of the year". Hull Daily Mail. Hull, United Kingdom. 6 October 1979. p. 25. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.