The 2015 European Tour is the seventh edition of the Race to Dubai and the 44th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
| Duration | 4 December 2014 – 22 November 2015 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 48 |
| Most wins | 3: Rory McIlroy Andy Sullivan |
| Race to Dubai | Rory McIlroy |
| Golfer of the Year | Rory McIlroy |
| Players' Player of the Year | Rory McIlroy |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  An Byeong-hun |
← 2014 2016 → | |
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy defended the Race to Dubai, winning the title for the third time. He was also named Golfer of the Year. South Korea's An Byeong-hun was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.
Changes for 2015Edit
There were many changes from the previous season. There were six additions to the schedule, made up of four new tournaments: the True Thailand Classic, the Shenzhen International, the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open; the Hero Indian Open, which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first time; and the return of the European Open, which was last played in 2009.[1]
Seven events were lost from the schedule: the Volvo World Match Play Championship and Volvo Golf Champions, as a result of Volvo reducing their sponsorship commitments;[2] the Nelson Mandela Championship; the NH Collection Open; The Championship at Laguna National; the Wales Open, as a 15-year deal with Celtic Manor Resort came to an end;[3] and the Perth International, which wasn't played in 2015 due to rescheduling from October to February.
In March, the tour confirmed that the British Masters, last held in 2008, was also being revived and added to the schedule.[4] Later in the month, the Madeira Islands Open was cancelled due to persistent heavy rain; it was later rescheduled to the end of July, opposite the Paul Lawrie Matchplay.[5]
ScheduleEdit
The following table lists official events during the 2015 season.[6]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | South Africa | US$6,500,000 | Danny Willett (2)
|
38 | AFR | Limited-field event |
| 14 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | South Africa | €1,500,000 |  Branden Grace (5)
|
22 | AFR | |
| 11 Jan | South African Open Championship | South Africa | R14,000,000 | Andy Sullivan (1)
|
32 | AFR[c] | |
| 18 Jan | Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship | UAE | US$2,700,000 |  Gary Stal (1)
|
50 | ||
| 24 Jan | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$2,500,000 | Branden Grace (6)
|
42 | ||
| 1 Feb | Omega Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,650,000 | Rory McIlroy (10)
|
50 | ||
| 8 Feb | Maybank Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$3,000,000 |  Anirban Lahiri (1)
|
38 | ASA | |
| 15 Feb | True Thailand Classic | Thailand | US$2,000,000 |  Andrew Dodt (2)
|
28 | ASA | New tournament |
| 22 Feb | Hero Indian Open | India | US$1,500,000 | Anirban Lahiri (2)
|
19 | ASA | New to European Tour |
| 1 Mar | Joburg Open | South Africa | €1,300,000 | Andy Sullivan (2)
|
19 | AFR | |
| 8 Mar | Africa Open | South Africa | R14,500,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (1)
|
19 | AFR | |
| 8 Mar | WGC-Cadillac Championship | United States | US$9,250,000 |  Dustin Johnson (n/a)
|
76 | World Golf Championship | |
| 15 Mar | Tshwane Open | South Africa | R18,500,000 | George Coetzee (2)
|
19 | AFR | |
| 29 Mar | Trophée Hassan II | Morocco | €1,500,000 |  Richie Ramsay (3)
|
24 | ||
| 12 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$10,000,000 | Jordan Spieth (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship | |
| 19 Apr | Shenzhen International | China | US$2,500,000 |  Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2)
|
24 | New tournament | |
| 26 Apr | Volvo China Open | China | CN¥20,000,000 |  Wu Ashun (1)
|
26 | ONE | |
| 3 May | WGC-Cadillac Match Play | United States | US$9,250,000 | Rory McIlroy (11)
|
76 | World Golf Championship | |
| 10 May | AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open | Mauritius | €1,000,000 | George Coetzee (3)
|
17 | AFR, ASA | New tournament |
| 17 May | Open de España | Spain | €1,500,000 | James Morrison (2)
|
26 | ||
| 24 May | BMW PGA Championship | England | €5,000,000 | An Byeong-hun (1)
|
64 | Flagship event | |
| 31 May | Dubai Duty Free Irish Open | Northern Ireland | €2,500,000 |  Søren Kjeldsen (4)
|
48 | ||
| 7 Jun | Nordea Masters | Sweden | €1,500,000 |  Alex Norén (4)
|
26 | ||
| 14 Jun | Lyoness Open | Austria | €1,500,000 | Chris Wood (2)
|
24 | ||
| 21 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$9,000,000 | Jordan Spieth (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship | |
| 28 Jun | BMW International Open | Germany | €2,000,000 |  Pablo Larrazábal (4)
|
32 | ||
| 5 Jul | Alstom Open de France | France | €3,000,000 |  Bernd Wiesberger (3)
|
36 | ||
| 12 Jul | Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open | Scotland | £3,250,000 | Rickie Fowler (n/a)
|
50 | ||
| 20 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | £6,300,000 | Zach Johnson (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship | |
| 26 Jul | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €2,700,000 | Danny Willett (3)
|
32 | ASA | |
| 2 Aug | Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay | Scotland | €1,000,000 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat (3)
|
24 | New tournament Limited-field event | |
| 2 Aug[d] |
Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI | Portugal | €600,000 |  Roope Kakko (1)
|
18 | CHA | |
| 9 Aug | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | United States | US$9,250,000 |  Shane Lowry (3)
|
74 | World Golf Championship | |
| 16 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$10,000,000 | Jason Day (n/a)
|
100 | Major championship | |
| 23 Aug | Made in Denmark | Denmark | €1,500,000 | David Horsey (4)
|
24 | ||
| 30 Aug | D+D Real Czech Masters | Czech Republic | €1,000,000 |  Thomas Pieters (1)
|
24 | ||
| 6 Sep | M2M Russian Open | Russia | €1,000,000 | Lee Slattery (2)
|
24 | ||
| 13 Sep | KLM Open | Netherlands | €1,800,000 | Thomas Pieters (2)
|
24 | ||
| 20 Sep | Open d'Italia | Italy | €1,500,000 | Rikard Karlberg (1)
|
24 | ||
| 27 Sep | Porsche European Open | Germany | €2,000,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (7)
|
30 | ||
| 4 Oct | Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Thorbjørn Olesen (3)
|
44 | Pro-Am | |
| 11 Oct | British Masters | England | £3,000,000 | Matt Fitzpatrick (1)
|
36 | ||
| 18 Oct | Portugal Masters | Portugal | €2,000,000 | Andy Sullivan (3)
|
24 | ||
| 25 Oct | UBS Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$2,000,000 | Justin Rose (8)
|
34 | ASA | |
| 1 Nov | Turkish Airlines Open | Turkey | US$7,000,000 | Victor Dubuisson (2)
|
44 | Race to Dubai finals series | |
| 8 Nov | WGC-HSBC Champions | China | US$8,500,000 | Russell Knox (1)
|
66 | World Golf Championship Race to Dubai finals series | |
| 15 Nov | BMW Masters | China | US$7,000,000 | Kristoffer Broberg (1)
|
50 | Race to Dubai finals series | |
| 22 Nov | DP World Tour Championship, Dubai | UAE | US$8,000,000 | Rory McIlroy (12)
|
52 | Race to Dubai finals series |
Location of tournamentsEdit
    &   Location of official tournaments of the 2015 European Tour in Europe.  Major Championship Flagship event Final Series event Regular event |
.svg)    Location of official tournaments of the 2015 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Final Series event Regular event
|
Race to DubaiEdit
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai", and is based on money earned during the season. In a change for the 2015 season, the system was slightly modified to a full points system, with one euro equal to one point for all events leading up to the Final Series, where additional points were awarded (previously earnings were converted into points at the start of the Final Series);[7] earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies were converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event.
The following table shows the final top-10 in the 2015 standings.[8]
| Rank | Player | Events | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy |
12 | 4,727,253 |
| 2 | Danny Willett |
23 | 3,670,310 |
| 3 | Branden Grace |
19 | 3,056,948 |
| 4 | Justin Rose |
14 | 2,827,024 |
| 5 | Shane Lowry |
18 | 2,729,144 |
| 6 | Louis Oosthuizen |
13 | 2,711,457 |
| 7 | An Byeong-hun |
26 | 2,417,356 |
| 8 | Andy Sullivan |
28 | 2,263,573 |
| 9 | Bernd Wiesberger |
25 | 2,163,180 |
| 10 | Thongchai Jaidee |
26 | 2,150,076 |
- Full list can be found here.
AwardsEdit
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Rory McIlroy
|
| European Tour Players' Player of the Year | Rory McIlroy
|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | An Byeong-hun
|
Golfer of the MonthEdit
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month award:
| Month | Player |
|---|---|
| January | Gary Stal
|
| February | Anirban Lahiri
|
| March | Richie Ramsay
|
| April | Wu Ashun
|
| May | An Byeong-hun
|
| June | Alex Norén
|
| July | Danny Willett
|
| August | Shane Lowry
|
| September | Lee Slattery
|
| October | Matt Fitzpatrick
|
| November | Rory McIlroy
|
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
- ^ 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 which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour; ONE − OneAsia Tour.
- ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event
- ^ Rescheduled due to persistent bad weather.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "European Tour 2015: New events in Scotland, Germany, Thailand". BBC Sport. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "European Tour: Volvo withdraw sponsorship of two events". Sky Sports. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ Corrigan, James (19 September 2014). "Wales Open becomes latest professional tournament to bite the dust after being handed last rites by Celtic Manor". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ "European Tour: British Masters returns after seven-year absence". BBC Sport. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ Lavner, Ryan (24 March 2015). "Canceled Euro Tour event rescheduled for July". Golf Channel. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "2015 European Tour Schedule". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ "New points system announced for European Tour Race to Dubai in 2015". Sky Sports. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "The Race Is On". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 23 November 2015.