From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1996 European Tour
Golf tour season
Golf tour season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1996 |
| tour | European Tour |
| regular_season | – |
| no_of_events | 38 |
| most_wins | WAL Ian Woosnam (4) |
| honor1 | Order of Merit |
| honoree1 | SCO Colin Montgomerie |
| honor2 | Golfer of the Year |
| honoree2 | SCO Colin Montgomerie |
| honor3 | Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |
| honoree3 | DEN Thomas Bjørn |
| prevseason | [1995](1995-european-tour) |
| nextseason | [1997](1997-european-tour) |
The 1996 European Tour, titled as the 1996 PGA European Tour, was the 25th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
Changes for 1996
The 1996 season saw co-sanctioning arrangements expand, with the PGA Tour of Australasia's Heineken Classic joining three Southern Africa Tour events on the schedule. The season was ultimately made up of 38 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".
Other changes from the previous season included the addition of the Heineken Classic, the Dimension Data Pro-Am and the Loch Lomond World Invitational; and the loss of the Turespaña Open De Canaria and the Open de Baleares. Soon after the schedule was announced, a third Southern Africa Tour event was added, the FNB Players Championship.
In January, the Jersey Open was moved onto the European Senior Tour schedule and the Open Mediterrania was replaced by the Catalan Open. In February, a new tournament in Spain, the Oki Pro-Am, was added opposite the Dunhill Cup. In March, the Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge was added to the schedule, taking the dates vacated by the Jersey Open, opposite the U.S. Open.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1996 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (£) | Winner | OWGR | |||||
| points | Other | ||||||
| tours | Notes | ||||||
| 28 Jan | Johnnie Walker Classic | Singapore | 600,000 | WAL Ian Woosnam (25) | 42 | [ANZ](1996-97-pga-tour-of-australasia) | |
| 4 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | A$800,000 | WAL Ian Woosnam (26) | 34 | [ANZ](1996-97-pga-tour-of-australasia) | New to European Tour |
| 11 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | South Africa | 400,000 | ZWE Mark McNulty (13) | 30 | [AFR](1995-96-southern-africa-tour) | New Pro-Am tournament |
| 18 Feb | Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship | South Africa | 300,000 | DEU Sven Strüver (1) | 22 | [AFR](1995-96-southern-africa-tour) | |
| 25 Feb | FNB Players Championship | South Africa | 400,000 | ZAF Wayne Westner (2) | 28 | [AFR](1995-96-southern-africa-tour) | New to European Tour |
| 3 Mar | Turespaña Open Mediterrania | Spain | – | *Cancelled* | – | ||
| 3 Mar | Catalan Open | Spain | 300,000 | SCO Paul Lawrie (1) | 20 | ||
| 10 Mar | Moroccan Open | Morocco | 350,000 | SWE Peter Hedblom (1) | 26 | ||
| 17 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$1,000,000 | SCO Colin Montgomerie (10) | 36 | ||
| 24 Mar | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 350,000 | AUS Wayne Riley (2) | 20 | ||
| 31 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | 300,000 | SWE Jarmo Sandelin (2) | 20 | ||
| 14 Apr | **[Masters Tournament](1996-masters-tournament)** | United States | US$2,500,000 | ENG **Nick Faldo** (30) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 21 Apr | Air France Cannes Open | France | 400,000 | SCO Raymond Russell (1) | 20 | ||
| 28 Apr | Turespaña Masters | Spain | 500,000 | ESP Diego Borrego (1) | 26 | ||
| 5 May | Conte of Florence Italian Open | Italy | 500,000 | ENG Jim Payne (2) | 24 | ||
| 12 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 550,000 | IRL Pádraig Harrington (1) | 32 | ||
| 19 May | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 700,000 | TTO Stephen Ames (2) | 44 | ||
| 27 May | [Volvo PGA Championship](1996-volvo-pga-championship) | England | 1,000,000 | ITA Costantino Rocca (3) | 64 | Flagship event | |
| 2 Jun | Deutsche Bank Open TPC of Europe | Germany | 750,000 | NZL Frank Nobilo (5) | 38 | ||
| 9 Jun | Alamo English Open | England | 650,000 | AUS Robert Allenby (2) | 30 | ||
| 16 Jun | Jersey Open | Jersey | – | *Cancelled* | – | ||
| 16 Jun | Slaley Hall Northumberland Challenge | England | 300,000 | ZAF Retief Goosen (1) | 20 | New tournament | |
| 16 Jun | **[U.S. Open](1996-u-s-open-golf)** | United States | US$2,400,000 | USA **Steve Jones** (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 23 Jun | BMW International Open | Germany | 500,000 | FRA Marc Farry (1) | 20 | ||
| 30 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | 600,000 | AUS Robert Allenby (3) | 40 | ||
| 7 Jul | Murphy's Irish Open | Ireland | 750,000 | SCO Colin Montgomerie (11) | 40 | ||
| 13 Jul | Scottish Open | Scotland | 480,000 | WAL Ian Woosnam (27) | 42 | ||
| 21 Jul | **[The Open Championship](1996-open-championship)** | England | 1,500,000 | USA **Tom Lehman** (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 28 Jul | Sun Microsystems Dutch Open | Netherlands | 650,000 | ZWE Mark McNulty (14) | 28 | ||
| 4 Aug | Volvo Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | 700,000 | ENG Lee Westwood (1) | 32 | ||
| 11 Aug | Hohe Brücke Open | Austria | 250,000 | IRL Paul McGinley (1) | 20 | ||
| 11 Aug | **[PGA Championship](1996-pga-championship)** | United States | US$2,400,000 | USA **Mark Brooks** (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 18 Aug | Chemapol Trophy Czech Open | Czech Republic | 750,000 | ENG Jonathan Lomas (1) | 20 | ||
| 25 Aug | Volvo German Open | Germany | 700,000 | WAL Ian Woosnam (28) | 20 | ||
| 31 Aug | One 2 One British Masters | England | 700,000 | AUS Robert Allenby (4) | 36 | ||
| 8 Sep | Canon European Masters | Switzerland | 750,000 | SCO Colin Montgomerie (12) | 32 | ||
| 15 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 650,000 | SWE Jesper Parnevik (3) | 38 | ||
| 22 Sep | Loch Lomond World Invitational | Scotland | 750,000 | DNK Thomas Bjørn (1) | 40 | ||
| 29 Sep | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | 750,000 | SWE Per-Ulrik Johansson (3) | 38 | ||
| 6 Oct | Linde German Masters | Germany | 650,000 | NIR Darren Clarke (2) | 40 | ||
| 13 Oct | Oki Pro-Am | Spain | 450,000 | USA Tom Kite (n/a) | 20 | New tournament | |
| 27 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | 900,000 | ZWE Mark McNulty (15) | 40 | Tour Championship |
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) | OWGR | ||||
| points | Notes | |||||
| 13 Oct | [Dunhill Cup](1996-dunhill-cup) | Scotland | 1,000,000 | USA Team USA | n/a | Team event |
| 20 Oct | Toyota World Match Play Championship | England | 650,000 | ZAF Ernie Els | 42 | Limited-field event |
| 20 Oct | Open Novotel Perrier | France | n/a | ENG Steven Bottomley and | ||
| ENG Jonathan Lomas | n/a | Team event | ||||
| 3 Nov | Subaru Sarazen World Open | United States | US$1,900,000 | NZL Frank Nobilo | 40 | |
| 24 Nov | [World Cup of Golf](1996-world-cup-of-golf) | South Africa | US$1,300,000 | ZAF Ernie Els and | ||
| ZAF Wayne Westner | n/a | Team event | ||||
| [World Cup of Golf Individual Trophy](1996-world-cup-of-golf) | US$200,000 | ZAF Ernie Els | n/a | |||
| 22 Dec | Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship | Jamaica | – | *Cancelled* | – | |
| 5 Jan | Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf | United States | US$3,650,000 | AUS Greg Norman | 58 | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCO Colin Montgomerie | 875,146 |
| 2 | WAL Ian Woosnam | 650,423 |
| 3 | AUS Robert Allenby | 532,143 |
| 4 | ITA Costantino Rocca | 482,585 |
| 5 | ZIM Mark McNulty | 463,847 |
| 6 | ENG Lee Westwood | 428,693 |
| 7 | SCO Andrew Coltart | 345,936 |
| 8 | NIR Darren Clarke | 329,795 |
| 9 | ENG Paul Broadhurst | 300,364 |
| 10 | DEN Thomas Bjørn | 292,023 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | SCO Colin Montgomerie | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | DEN Thomas Bjørn |
Notes
References
References
- "Tour History". European Tour.
- (2 December 1995). "1996 PGA European Tour". Aberdeen Evening Express.
- (30 December 1995). "The Guardian sports {{!}} Highlights of the year {{!}} Golf". The Guardian.
- Hopkins, John. (25 January 1996). "Business trip east marks start of European venture". The Times.
- (25 December 1995). "An event in a world of trouble". The Boston Globe.
- (25 January 1996). "Jersey tourney goes senior". Aberdeen Press and Journal.
- (29 February 1996). "New Madrid Pro-Am added to schedule". The Miami Herald.
- (6 March 1996). "Top six stars boost world match-play {{!}} Northumberland". Aberdeen Press and Journal.
- "1996 Tournament schedule". European Tour.
- (29 October 1996). "Results {{!}} Golf {{!}} European Tour final Order of Merit". The Guardian.
- Williams, Michael. (29 October 1996). "Ryder Cup helps keep critical players in check". The Daily Telegraph.
- Garrod, Mark. (13 December 1996). "No resting on laurels as Monty sets stall". The Birmingham Post.
- (6 December 1996). "Rookie Bjorn's coveted award". The Birmingham Post.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1996 European Tour — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report