The 1984 European Tour, titled as the 1984 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 13th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

1984 European Tour season
Duration12 April 1984 (1984-04-12) – 4 November 1984 (1984-11-04)
Number of official events26[a]
Most winsWest Germany Bernhard Langer (4)
Order of MeritWest Germany Bernhard Langer
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearWales Philip Parkin
1983
1985

Changes for 1984

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The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2][3]

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Monte Carlo Open,[4] the Celtic International[5] and the Cannes Open;[6] and the loss of the Martini International[7] and the British Masters.[3] In addition the English Golf Classic was merged with the Lawrence Batley International.

Soon after the schedule was revealed, it was announced that the Bob Hope British Classic had been cancelled;[8] the Sanyo Open was brought forward from October to fill the vacated dates.

Order of Merit name change

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The money list reverted to its original title as the "Order of Merit", having been known as the "Official money list" for the preceding four seasons.[1] In March, it was announced that Sperry Corporation would title sponsor the Order of Merit, being renamed as the Sperry Order of Merit.[9]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1984 season.[10]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)
Winner[b] Notes
15 Apr Tunisian Open Tunisia 65,000   Sam Torrance (8)
15 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$600,000   Ben Crenshaw (n/a) Major championship[c]
29 Apr Cepsa Madrid Open Spain 85,000   Howard Clark (3)
6 May Italian Open Italy 85,000   Sandy Lyle (9)
13 May Car Care Plan International England 100,000   Nick Faldo (11)
20 May Peugeot Open de France France 85,000   Bernhard Langer (8)
28 May Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship England 150,000   Howard Clark (4)
3 Jun Jersey Open Jersey 60,000   Bernard Gallacher (10)
10 Jun St. Mellion Timeshare TPC England 100,000   Jaime Gonzalez (1)
17 Jun Timex Open France 75,000   Mike Clayton (1)
17 Jun U.S. Open United States US$600,000   Fuzzy Zoeller (n/a) Major championship[c]
24 Jun Monte Carlo Open France 75,000   Ian Mosey (2) New tournament
1 Jul Glasgow Open Scotland 80,000   Ken Brown (3)
8 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 135,000   Ian Woosnam (3)
14 Jul Lawrence Batley International Golf Classic England 110,000   José Rivero (1)
22 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 425,000   Seve Ballesteros (23) Major championship
29 Jul KLM Dutch Open Netherlands 100,000   Bernhard Langer (9)
5 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 110,000   Bernhard Langer (10)
12 Aug Celtic International Ireland 75,000   Gordon Brand Jnr (3) New tournament
19 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 120,000   Sam Torrance (9)
19 Aug PGA Championship United States US$700,000   Lee Trevino (n/a) Major championship[c]
26 Aug Lufthansa German Open West Germany 100,000   Wayne Grady (1)
2 Sep Ebel European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 160,000   Jerry Anderson (1)
9 Sep Panasonic European Open England 150,000   Gordon Brand Jnr (4)
23 Sep Bob Hope British Classic England Cancelled Pro-Am
23 Sep
28 Oct
Sanyo Open Spain 100,000   Sam Torrance (10)
7 Oct Trophée Lancôme France 110,000   Sandy Lyle (10) Limited-field event
14 Oct Benson & Hedges Spanish Open Spain 85,000   Bernhard Langer (11)
21 Oct Compagnie de Chauffe Cannes Open France 75,000   David Frost (1) New to European Tour
4 Nov Portuguese Open Portugal 55,000   Tony Johnstone (1)

Unofficial events

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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
16 Sep Hennessy Cognac Cup England n/a   Team England Team event
30 Sep Suntory World Match Play Championship England 150,000   Seve Ballesteros Limited-field event
18 Nov World Cup Italy US$150,000   José María Cañizares and
  José Rivero
Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy   José María Cañizares

Order of Merit

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The Order of Merit was titled as the Sperry Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[11][12]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1   Bernhard Langer 139,344
2   Sam Torrance 112,657
3   Howard Clark 101,903
4   Sandy Lyle 99,649
5   Seve Ballesteros 96,503
6   Ian Woosnam 62,080
7   Gordon Brand Jnr 59,116
8   José María Cañizares 57,418
9   Jerry Anderson 56,121
10   David Frost 55,642

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year   Philip Parkin [13]

Notes

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  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.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (18 November 1983). "£4m jackpot for European golfers". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. p. 29. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ^ a b "£3m tour package". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 18 November 1983. p. 25. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Davies, David (27 September 1983). "High stakes in Monte". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 22. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Nigel beats his handicap". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 11 November 1983. Retrieved 6 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Platts, Mitchell (17 November 1983). "European golf cash soars to over £3m". Aberdeen Evening Express. Aberdeen, United Kingdom. p. 14. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Hennessy, John (28 July 1983). "Martini pulls out of tour". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 20. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (25 November 1983). "No Hope as sponsors pull out". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 24. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "It's the rich that get the gravy". Manchester Evening News. Manchester, United Kingdom. 29 March 1984. p. 72. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "1984 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  11. ^ Lowe, Desmond (17 November 1984). "Waites slips out of top 20". Football Post. Nottingham, United Kingdom. p. 21. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Congratulations to Bernhard Langer Europe's No. 1 Golfer". Evening Standard. London, United Kingdom. 5 November 1984. p. 39. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Parkin takes rookie award". Evening Standard. London, United Kingdom. 7 November 1984. p. 44. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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