1974 European Tour

1974 European Tour season
Duration10 April 1974 (1974-04-10) – 26 October 1974 (1974-10-26)
Number of official events21[a]
Most winsEngland Maurice Bembridge (3)
England Peter Oosterhuis (3)
Order of MeritEngland Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearEngland Carl Mason
← 1973
1975 →

The 1974 European Tour, titled as the 1974 PGA European Tour,[1] was the third season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1974

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Double Diamond Strokeplay, the El Paraiso Open and the non-counting Ibergolf Trophy to conclude the season;[2] and the loss of the Scottish Open.[3] The John Player Classic was scheduled for late September, but ultimately cancelled due to a clash of dates with the PGA Tour's Kaiser International Open Invitational.[4]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1974 season.[5][6][2]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[b] Notes
13 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal 15,000 Wales Brian Huggett (1)
14 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$229,549 South Africa Gary Player (n/a) Major championship[c]
20 Apr Spanish Open Spain 26,590 United States Jerry Heard (1)
27 Apr Madrid Open Spain 15,000 Spain Manuel Piñero (1)
5 May French Open France 15,650 England Peter Oosterhuis (5)
11 May Penfold Tournament England 12,000 England Tommy Horton (2)
25 May Piccadilly Medal England 15,000 England Maurice Bembridge (2)
8 Jun Martini International England 12,000 Australia Stewart Ginn (1)
16 Jun U.S. Open United States US$219,900 United States Hale Irwin (n/a) Major championship[c]
23 Jun Carroll's Celebration International Ireland 20,325 Scotland Bernard Gallacher (1)
13 Jul The Open Championship England 50,000 South Africa Gary Player (n/a) Major championship
21 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 30,000 England Tony Jacklin (4)
27 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland 20,700 New Zealand Bob Charles (4)
4 Aug German Open West Germany 17,500 New Zealand Simon Owen (1)
11 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands 19,000 Scotland Brian Barnes (2)
11 Aug PGA Championship United States US$225,000 United States Lee Trevino (n/a) Major championship[c]
17 Aug Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf England 25,000 Belgium Philippe Toussaint (1)
21 Aug Double Diamond Strokeplay Scotland 10,000 England Maurice Bembridge (3) New tournament
31 Aug Viyella PGA Championship England 25,000 England Maurice Bembridge (4)
15 Sep Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship Scotland 20,000 Australia Jack Newton (3)
21 Sep W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament England 25,000 England Neil Coles (4)
28 Sep John Player Classic England – Cancelled
5 Oct Dunlop Masters Wales 20,000 Scotland Bernard Gallacher (2)
20 Oct Italian Open Italy 24,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (6)
26 Oct El Paraiso Open Spain 20,000 England Peter Oosterhuis (7)

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
18 May Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball England 12,000 England Clive Clark and
England Peter Butler 		Team event
15 Jun Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship England 10,000 South Africa Dale Hayes
8 Aug Lord Derby's Young Professionals' Tournament England 5,000 England Richard Jewell
24 Aug Double Diamond International Scotland n/a Team England Team event
12 Oct Piccadilly World Match Play Championship England 30,000 United States Hale Irwin Limited-field event
3 Nov Sotogrande Match Spain 16,000 Team GB&I New team event
10 Nov European Ibergolf Trophy Spain 13,620 South Africa Gary Player New tournament
24 Nov World Cup Venezuela US$2,000 South Africa Bobby Cole and
South Africa Dale Hayes 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy US$1,000 South Africa Bobby Cole

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 2,965 32,127
2 South Africa Dale Hayes 2,379 18,396
3 Scotland Bernard Gallacher 2,148 18,515
4 Scotland Brian Barnes 2,111 14,380
5 England Neil Coles 2,080 13,961
6 Argentina Vicente Fernández 2,061 7,819
7 England Tony Jacklin 2,033 19,547
8 Wales Brian Huggett 2,032 12,373
9 England Peter Townsend 1,980 15,828
10 England Tommy Horton 1,902 11,343

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year England Carl Mason [9]

Notes

  1. ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
  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. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (21 December 1973). "Prize money next year will reach record £660,000". Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ^ "No TV—No Scots' open". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. 23 November 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  4. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (6 March 1974). "Player Classic is dropped". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  5. ^ "1974 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b Simms, George (1975). John Player Golf Yearbook 1975. Queen Anne Press. pp. 76–124. ISBN 0362002134.
  7. ^ "Runaway win for Peter Oosterhuis". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, United Kingdom. 5 November 1974. p. 20. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Europa-facit 1974" [European results 1974]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 1. January 1975. p. 44. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Mason 'Rookie of the Year'". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. 5 October 1974. p. 18. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.