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1985 European Tour
Golf tour season
Golf tour season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1985 |
| tour | European Tour |
| regular_season | – |
| no_of_events | 26 |
| most_wins | ESP Seve Ballesteros (4) |
| honor1 | Order of Merit |
| honoree1 | SCO Sandy Lyle |
| honor2 | Golfer of the Year |
| honoree2 | FRG Bernhard Langer |
| honor3 | Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |
| honoree3 | WAL Paul Thomas |
| prevseason | [1984](1984-european-tour) |
| nextseason | [1986](1986-european-tour) |
The 1985 European Tour, titled as the 1985 PGA European Tour, was the 14th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
Changes for 1985
The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".
There were several changes from the previous season, with the GSI L'Equipe Open replacing the Timex Open; the return of the British Masters and the Bob Hope Classic, which was rebranded as the Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity; and the loss of the Tournament Players Championship and the Celtic International.
In addition, the Dunhill Cup, a new team event devised by Mark McCormack and held over the Old Course at St Andrews, was added to the schedule but did not count towards the Order of Merit; with a prize fund of it was the richest tournament in the world, surpassing the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.
Rule changes
In 1985, the European Tour became "All-Exempt", meaning that for the first time tournaments did not have their own pre-qualifying rounds. The final two rounds of all major tournaments were played as two-balls, having previously been three-balls.
Order of Merit name change
In April, it was announced that Epson would take over the title sponsorship of the Order of Merit from Sperry Corporation, being renamed as the Epson Order of Merit.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1985 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (£) | Winner | Notes | |||
| 14 Apr | **[Masters Tournament](1985-masters-tournament)** | United States | US$700,000 | FRG **Bernhard Langer** (12) | Major championship |
| 21 Apr | Tunisian Open | Tunisia | 70,000 | ENG Stephen Bennett (1) | |
| 28 Apr | Cepsa Madrid Open | Spain | 100,000 | ESP Manuel Piñero (8) | |
| 5 May | Italian Open | Italy | 85,000 | ESP Manuel Piñero (9) | |
| 12 May | Car Care Plan International | England | 110,000 | ENG David J. Russell (1) | |
| 19 May | GSI L'Equipe Open | France | 75,000 | ENG Mark James (7) | New tournament |
| 27 May | Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship | England | 180,000 | ENG Paul Way (2) | |
| 2 Jun | Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity | England | 140,000 | SCO Ken Brown (4) | Pro-Am |
| 10 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 200,000 | USA Lee Trevino (n/a) | |
| 16 Jun | Jersey Open | Jersey | 75,000 | ENG Howard Clark (5) | |
| 16 Jun | **[U.S. Open](1985-u-s-open-golf)** | United States | US$650,000 | USA **Andy North** (n/a) | Major championship |
| 23 Jun | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 120,000 | ESP Seve Ballesteros (24) | |
| 30 Jun | Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open | France | 125,000 | SCO Sam Torrance (11) | |
| 7 Jul | Peugeot Open de France | France | 80,000 | ESP Seve Ballesteros (25) | |
| 13 Jul | Lawrence Batley International Golf Classic | England | 120,000 | AUS Graham Marsh (9) | |
| 21 Jul | **[The Open Championship](1985-open-championship)** | England | 530,000 | SCO **Sandy Lyle** (11) | Major championship |
| 28 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | 120,000 | AUS Graham Marsh (10) | |
| 4 Aug | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | 130,000 | AUS Ian Baker-Finch (1) | |
| 11 Aug | Glasgow Open | Scotland | 90,000 | ENG Howard Clark (6) | |
| 11 Aug | **[PGA Championship](1985-pga-championship)** | United States | US$700,000 | USA **Hubert Green** (n/a) | Major championship |
| 18 Aug | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 150,000 | SCO Sandy Lyle (12) | |
| 25 Aug | Lufthansa German Open | West Germany | 100,000 | FRG Bernhard Langer (13) | |
| 1 Sep | Panasonic European Open | England | 200,000 | FRG Bernhard Langer (14) | |
| 8 Sep | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 190,000 | USA Craig Stadler (n/a) | |
| 22 Sep | Sanyo Open | Spain | 120,000 | ESP Seve Ballesteros (26) | |
| 6 Oct | Trophée Lancôme | France | 120,000 | ZWE Nick Price (2) | Limited-field event |
| 13 Oct | Compagnie de Chauffe Cannes Open | France | 80,000 | ENG Robert Lee (1) | |
| 27 Oct | Benson & Hedges Spanish Open | Spain | 85,000 | ESP Seve Ballesteros (27) | |
| 2 Nov | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 65,000 | ENG Warren Humphreys (1) |
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) | Notes | |||
| 15 Sep | [Ryder Cup](1985-ryder-cup) | England | n/a | EUR Team Europe | Team event |
| 29 Sep | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 180,000 | ESP Seve Ballesteros | Limited-field event |
| 20 Oct | [Dunhill Cup](1985-dunhill-cup) | Scotland | US$1,200,000 | AUS Team Australia | New tournament |
| Team event | |||||
| 24 Nov | [World Cup](1985-world-cup-men-s-golf) | United States | US$743,000 | CAN Dave Barr and | |
| CAN Dan Halldorson | Team event | ||||
| [World Cup Individual Trophy](1985-world-cup-men-s-golf) | ENG Howard Clark |
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.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCO Sandy Lyle | 162,553 |
| 2 | FRG Bernhard Langer | 115,716 |
| 3 | ESP Seve Ballesteros | 103,042 |
| 4 | WAL Ian Woosnam | 82,235 |
| 5 | SCO Sam Torrance | 79,567 |
| 6 | ENG Howard Clark | 79,386 |
| 7 | ESP Manuel Piñero | 71,116 |
| 8 | ESP José María Cañizares | 65,633 |
| 9 | SCO Gordon Brand Jnr | 65,571 |
| 10 | ENG Paul Way | 63,097 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | FRG Bernhard Langer | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | WAL Paul Thomas |
Notes
References
References
- "Tour History". European Tour.
- Platts, Mitchell. (22 November 1984). "A news world opens for European tour". The Times.
- Davies, David. (22 November 1984). "Pro tour offers £4m". The Guardian.
- Davies, David. (31 July 1984). "Masters comes to Woburn". The Guardian.
- (22 January 1985). "St Andrews to be host of first £1 million event". The Times.
- Jacobs, Raymond. (26 July 1984). "Satellite tour takes off". The Glasgow Herald.
- (12 April 1985). "Sport in brief {{!}} Golf". The Guardian.
- Davies, David. (24 April 1985). "Match play gap filled". The Guardian.
- "1985 Tournament schedule". European Tour.
- (9 November 1985). "Aces high". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
- (11 December 1985). "Langer golfer of year". Evening Post.
- (12 November 1985). "Paul pips his pal in cash race". Manchester Evening News.
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