1972 European Tour

1972 European Tour season
Duration6 April 1972 (1972-04-06) – 22 October 1972 (1972-10-22)
Number of official events20
Most winsNew Zealand Bob Charles (2)[a]
Australia Graham Marsh (2)
Australia Jack Newton (2)
Order of MeritEngland Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearScotland Sam Torrance
1973 →

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

Changes for 1972

There were several changes from the previous year's British PGA circuit schedule, with the inclusion of the Madrid Open, the Dutch Open and the Lancia d'Oro tournament; they joined the five national opens in continental Europe that were included in 1971.[2] Also added were the John Player Trophy and the Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open, as well as the returning John Player Classic and Sumrie Better-Ball tournaments;[3] lost from the calendar were the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament, the Classic International, the Daks Tournament and the Gallaher Ulster Open.[4]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1972 season.[5][6][4]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[b] Notes
9 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$204,649 United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[c]
15 Apr Spanish Open Spain 10,060 Spain Antonio Garrido (1)
22 Apr Madrid Open Spain 10,060 Republic of Ireland Jimmy Kinsella (1)
27 Apr Piccadilly Medal England 12,000 England Tommy Horton (1)
13 May Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament England 8,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (1)
27 May John Player Trophy England 8,000 England Ross Whitehead (1)
10 Jun Martini International England 8,000 Scotland Brian Barnes (1)
20 Jun U.S. Open United States US$200,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[c]
25 Jun Carroll's International Ireland 15,000 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr (1)
1 Jul Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open Scotland 10,000 England Neil Coles (1)
15 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 50,000 United States Lee Trevino (n/a) Major championship
23 Jul French Open France 11,020 United States Barry Jaeckel (1)
30 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland 10,240 Australia Graham Marsh (1)
6 Aug German Open West Germany 11,600 Australia Graham Marsh (2)
6 Aug PGA Championship United States US$225,000 South Africa Gary Player (n/a) Major championship[c]
13 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands 10,700 Australia Jack Newton (1)
19 Aug Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf England 15,000 Australia Jack Newton (2)
26 Aug Viyella PGA Championship England 15,000 England Tony Jacklin (1)
16 Sep Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship England 20,000 England John Garner (1)
23 Sep W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament Scotland 15,000 Australia Peter Thomson (1)
30 Sep John Player Classic Scotland 56,550 New Zealand Bob Charles (1)
7 Oct Dunlop Masters England 15,000 New Zealand Bob Charles (2)
15 Oct Italian Open Italy 15,000 Scotland Norman Wood (1)
22 Oct Lancia d'Oro Italy 10,700 Spain José María Cañizares (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
20 May Sumrie Better-Ball England 8,000 England Malcolm Gregson and
Wales Brian Huggett 		Team event
3 Jun Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship England 4,000 England Peter Oosterhuis
2 Sep Double Diamond International England 15,000 Team England Team event
8 Sep Lord Derby's Under-25 Match Play Championship England 2,255 Scotland Sam Torrance
14 Oct Piccadilly World Match Play Championship England 25,000 United States Tom Weiskopf Limited-field event
12 Nov World Cup Australia US$2,000 Taiwan Hsieh Min-Nan and
Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy US$1,000 Taiwan Hsieh Min-Nan

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[6][7][8]

Position Player Points Prize money (£)
1 England Peter Oosterhuis 1,751 18,525
2 England Guy Hunt 1,710 9,809
3 Wales Brian Huggett 1,702 10,167
4 England Peter Townsend 1,640 8,592
5 Australia Jack Newton 1,637 8,899
6 England John Garner 1,616 8,006
7 England Peter Butler 1,614 8,376
8 Scotland Brian Barnes 1,603 9,104
9 England Neil Coles 1,597 8,629
10 England Clive Clark 1,575 5,831

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Scotland Sam Torrance [9]

Notes

  1. ^ Jack Nicklaus also won two events, but was not a European Tour member.
  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

  1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Extra £32,000 at stake for Britons". The Times. 7 December 1971. p. 10. Retrieved 24 February 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ Dunn, Alan (23 February 1972). "New season enlivened". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 22. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Nearly £500,000 prize-money in British season". Glasgow Herald. 5 January 1972. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  5. ^ "1972 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b Simms, George (1973). John Player Golf Yearbook 1973. Queen Anne Press. pp. 82–136. ISBN 0362001278.
  7. ^ Huggins, Percy (1973). The Golfer's Handbook 1973. Munro-Barr. pp. XLiv–XLv. ISBN 9780900403064. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via Archive.org.
  8. ^ Ryde, Peter (11 November 1972). "A man of supreme merit". The Times. p. 6. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  9. ^ "Torrance wins Rookie award". Leicester Mercury. Leicester, United Kingdom. 7 November 1972. p. 48. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.