The 2004 European Tour was the 33rd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

2004 European Tour season
Duration4 December 2003 (2003-12-04) – 31 October 2004 (2004-10-31)
Number of official events45
Most winsSpain Miguel Ángel Jiménez (4)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Ernie Els
Golfer of the YearFiji Vijay Singh
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearScotland Scott Drummond
2003
2005

Changes for 2004 edit

Changes from 2003 included two new tournaments, the Open de Sevilla[1] and The Heritage,[2] and the loss of the Benson & Hedges International Open, the Trophée Lancôme[3] and the Nordic Open. The HSBC World Match Play Championship also became an official money-list event for the first time with an increased field determined by qualification criteria, which also meant it regained Official World Golf Ranking status,[4] and the Mallorca Classic became a full European Tour event having been a dual-ranking event in 2003.

Schedule edit

The following table lists official events during the 2004 season.[5][3][6]

Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[a] OWGR
points
Other
tours[b]
Notes
7 Dec Omega Hong Kong Open Hong Kong US$700,000   Pádraig Harrington (8) 26 ASA
18 Jan South African Airways Open South Africa £500,000   Trevor Immelman (2) 32 AFR[c]
25 Jan Dunhill Championship South Africa £500,000   Marcel Siem (1) 18 AFR
1 Feb Johnnie Walker Classic Thailand £1,000,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (8) 38 ANZ, ASA
8 Feb Heineken Classic Australia A$2,000,000   Ernie Els (16) 34 ANZ
15 Feb ANZ Championship Australia A$1,750,000   Brian Davis (2) 20 ANZ
22 Feb Carlsberg Malaysian Open Malaysia US$1,210,000   Thongchai Jaidee (1) 16 ASA
29 Feb WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship United States US$7,000,000   Tiger Woods (n/a) 74 World Golf Championship
7 Mar Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$2,000,000   Mark O'Meara (n/a) 46
14 Mar Qatar Masters Qatar US$1,500,000   Joakim Haeggman (3) 24
21 Mar Caltex Singapore Masters Singapore US$900,000   Colin Montgomerie (28) 16 ASA
28 Mar Madeira Island Open Portugal €600,000   Chris Hanell (1) 24 CHA
4 Apr Algarve Open de Portugal Portugal €1,250,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (9) 24
11 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$6,000,000   Phil Mickelson (n/a) 100 Major championship
18 Apr Open de Sevilla Spain €1,000,000   Ricardo González (3) 24 New tournament
25 Apr Canarias Open de España Spain €1,650,000   Christian Cévaër (1) 24
3 May Telecom Italia Open Italy €1,200,000   Graeme McDowell (2) 24
9 May Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters England £1,600,000   Barry Lane (5) 30
16 May BMW Asian Open China US$1,500,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (10) 18 ASA
23 May Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe Germany €3,000,000   Trevor Immelman (3) 48
30 May Volvo PGA Championship England €3,750,000   Scott Drummond (1) 64 Flagship event
6 Jun Celtic Manor Wales Open Wales £1,500,000   Simon Khan (1) 24
13 Jun Diageo Championship at Gleneagles Scotland £1,400,000   Miles Tunnicliff (2) 24
20 Jun Aa St Omer Open France €400,000   Philippe Lima (1) 16 CHA
20 Jun U.S. Open United States US$6,250,000   Retief Goosen (10) 100 Major championship
27 Jun Open de France France €3,000,000   Jean-François Remésy (2) 24
4 Jul Smurfit European Open Ireland £2,400,000   Retief Goosen (11) 40
11 Jul Barclays Scottish Open Scotland £2,200,000   Thomas Levet (3) 48
18 Jul The Open Championship Scotland £4,000,000   Todd Hamilton (n/a) 100 Major championship
25 Jul Nissan Irish Open Ireland €1,900,000   Brett Rumford (2) 26
1 Aug Scandinavian Masters Sweden €1,600,000   Luke Donald (1) 24
8 Aug KLM Open Netherlands €1,200,000   David Lynn (1) 24
15 Aug BMW Russian Open Russia US$500,000   Gary Emerson (1) 16 CHA
15 Aug PGA Championship United States US$6,250,000   Vijay Singh (12) 100 Major championship
22 Aug WGC-NEC Invitational United States US$7,000,000   Stewart Cink (1) 76 World Golf Championship
29 Aug BMW International Open Germany €1,800,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (11) 44
5 Sep Omega European Masters Switzerland €1,600,000   Luke Donald (2) 30
12 Sep Linde German Masters Germany €3,000,000   Pádraig Harrington (9) 42
26 Sep The Heritage England €2,000,000   Henrik Stenson (2) 28 New tournament
3 Oct WGC-American Express Championship Ireland US$7,000,000   Ernie Els (17) 70 World Golf Championship
10 Oct Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000   Stephen Gallacher (1) 54 Pro-Am
17 Oct HSBC World Match Play Championship England £1,660,000   Ernie Els (18) 48 Upgraded to official event
Limited-field event
17 Oct Mallorca Classic Spain €1,000,000   Sergio García (5) 24
24 Oct Open de Madrid Spain €1,000,000   Richard Sterne (1) 24
31 Oct Volvo Masters Andalucía Spain €3,750,000   Ian Poulter (6) 44 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 Winners OWGR
points
Notes
19 Sep Ryder Cup United States n/a   Team Europe n/a Team event
21 Nov WGC-World Cup Spain US$4,000,000   Paul Casey and
  Luke Donald
n/a World Golf Championship
Team 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 Euros.[7][8]

Position Player Prize money ()
1   Ernie Els 4,061,905
2   Retief Goosen 2,325,202
3   Pádraig Harrington 1,910,394
4   Miguel Ángel Jiménez 1,886,237
5   Thomas Levet 1,727,945
6   Graeme McDowell 1,648,862
7   Lee Westwood 1,592,766
8   Darren Clarke 1,563,803
9   Ian Poulter 1,533,158
10   David Howell 1,501,502

Awards edit

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year   Vijay Singh [9]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year   Scott Drummond [10]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour.
  3. ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event

References edit

  1. ^ "New date for European Tour". BBC Sport. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Woburn lands new event". BBC Sport. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b Roberts, Gereurd (11 December 2003). "China a news stop for 2004 tour". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "World Match Play to become official event". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. Associated Press. 28 May 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "2004 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  6. ^ "European Tour 2004". BBC Sport. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  7. ^ "2004 Order of Merit". European Tour. Archived from the original on 14 March 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  8. ^ Farrell, Andy (1 November 2004). "Poulter beats Garcia to save season". The Independent. London, United Kingdom. p. 55. Retrieved 17 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Ernie Els, who wrapped up a second successive Order of Merit title without having to play here...
  9. ^ "Singh lands European Tour honour". BBC Sport. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Drummond scoops Rookie accolade". BBC Sport. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 17 October 2023.

External links edit