1973 European Tour

1973 European Tour season
Duration28 March 1973 (1973-03-28) – 6 October 1973 (1973-10-06)
Number of official events21
Most winsEngland Peter Oosterhuis (3)
Order of MeritEngland Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearEngland Pip Elson
← 1972
1974 →

The 1973 European Tour, titled as the 1973 PGA European Tour,[1] was the second season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1973

There were three changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Portuguese Open and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the loss of the John Player Trophy.[2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1973 season.[3][4][5]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[a] Notes
31 Mar Madrid Open Spain 15,000 Spain Germán Garrido (1)
7 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal 15,000 Spain Jaime Benito (1) New to European Tour
9 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$224,825 United States Tommy Aaron (n/a) Major championship[b]
14 Apr Spanish Open Spain 25,000 England Neil Coles (2)
21 Apr Italian Open Italy 25,750 England Tony Jacklin (2)
28 Apr Piccadilly Medal England 12,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (2)
12 May Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament England 8,000 Northern Ireland Eddie Polland (1)
26 May Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship England 20,000 England Neil Coles (3)
3 Jun French Open France 15,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (3)
9 Jun Martini International Scotland 10,000 England Maurice Bembridge (1)
17 Jun U.S. Open United States US$227,200 United States Johnny Miller (n/a) Major championship[b]
24 Jun Carroll's International Ireland 15,000 Republic of Ireland Paddy McGuirk (1)
30 Jun Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open Scotland 15,000 Australia Graham Marsh (3)
14 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 50,000 United States Tom Weiskopf (n/a) Major championship
22 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 19,410 New Zealand Bob Charles (3) New tournament
29 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland 17,850 South Africa Hugh Baiocchi (1)
5 Aug German Open West Germany 17,210 Spain Francisco Abreu (1)
12 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands 18,700 England Doug McClelland (1)
12 Aug PGA Championship United States US$225,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[b]
18 Aug Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf England 15,000 South Africa Vin Baker (1)
25 Aug Viyella PGA Championship England 15,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (4)
8 Sep W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament England 15,000 United States Charles Coody (n/a)
29 Sep John Player Classic Scotland 58,000 United States Charles Coody (n/a)
6 Oct Dunlop Masters Wales 15,000 England Tony Jacklin (3)

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
19 May Sumrie Better-Ball Scotland 8,000 England Neil Coles and
England Bernard Hunt 		Team event
16 Jun Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship England 4,000 Scotland Bernard Gallacher
20 Jul Lord Derby's Under-25 Match Play Championship England 2,500 England Brian Thompson
1 Sep Double Diamond International England 15,000 Team Scotland Team event
22 Sep Ryder Cup Scotland n/a Team USA Team event
13 Oct Piccadilly World Match Play Championship England 30,000 South Africa Gary Player Limited-field event
25 Nov World Cup Spain US$4,200 United States Johnny Miller and
United States Jack Nicklaus 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy US$2,100 United States Johnny Miller

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[4][6][7]

Position Player Points Prize money (£)
1 England Peter Oosterhuis 3,440 17,455
2 England Maurice Bembridge 2,980 10,773
3 South Africa Hugh Baiocchi 2,904 11,870
4 South Africa Dale Hayes 2,736 10,188
5 Scotland Brian Barnes 2,676 9,778
6 Northern Ireland Eddie Polland 2,635 8,146
7 England Tony Jacklin 2,588 24,840
8 Scotland Bernard Gallacher 2,561 8,676
9 England Neil Coles 2,437 14,748
10 Australia Jack Newton 2,399 7,939

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year England Pip Elson [8]

Notes

  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. ^ 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. ^ Rodney, Bob (26 January 1973). "Top two for Player Classic". Daily Mirror. London, United Kingdom. p. 27. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "1973 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Simms, George (1974). John Player Golf Yearbook 1974. Queen Anne Press. pp. 82–136. ISBN 0362001758.
  5. ^ "£½m. to be won on PGA circuit". Glasgow Herald. 19 January 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  6. ^ "Oosty ahead of Bembridge". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 13 October 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Brittiska Cirkusen | Order of Merit" [British Tour | Order of Merit]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8. December 1973. p. 48. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Cotton's guidance wins 'rookie' title for Elson". The Birmingham Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 5 October 1973. p. 15. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.