1985 European Tour

1985 European Tour season
Duration11 April 1985 (1985-04-11) – 2 November 1985 (1985-11-02)
Number of official events26
Most winsSpain Seve Ballesteros (4)
Order of MeritScotland Sandy Lyle
Golfer of the YearWest Germany Bernhard Langer
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearWales Paul Thomas
← 1984
1986 →

The 1985 European Tour, titled as the 1985 PGA European Tour,[1] 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".[2][3]

There were several changes from the previous season, with the GSI L'Equipe Open replacing the Timex Open; the return of the British Masters[4] 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 US$1,200,000 it was the richest tournament in the world, surpassing the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.[5]

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.[1][6] The final two rounds of all major tournaments were played as two-balls, having previously been three-balls.[7]

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.[8]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1985 season.[9]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[a] Notes
14 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$700,000 West Germany Bernhard Langer (12) Major championship[b]
21 Apr Tunisian Open Tunisia 70,000 England Stephen Bennett (1)
28 Apr Cepsa Madrid Open Spain 100,000 Spain Manuel Piñero (8)
5 May Italian Open Italy 85,000 Spain Manuel Piñero (9)
12 May Car Care Plan International England 110,000 England David J. Russell (1)
19 May GSI L'Equipe Open France 75,000 England Mark James (7) New tournament
27 May Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship England 180,000 England Paul Way (2)
2 Jun Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity England 140,000 Scotland Ken Brown (4) Pro-Am
10 Jun Dunhill British Masters England 200,000 United States Lee Trevino (n/a)
16 Jun Jersey Open Jersey 75,000 England Howard Clark (5)
16 Jun U.S. Open United States US$650,000 United States Andy North (n/a) Major championship[b]
23 Jun Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 120,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (24)
30 Jun Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open France 125,000 Scotland Sam Torrance (11)
7 Jul Peugeot Open de France France 80,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (25)
13 Jul Lawrence Batley International Golf Classic England 120,000 Australia Graham Marsh (9)
21 Jul The Open Championship England 530,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle (11) Major championship
28 Jul KLM Dutch Open Netherlands 120,000 Australia Graham Marsh (10)
4 Aug Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 130,000 Australia Ian Baker-Finch (1)
11 Aug Glasgow Open Scotland 90,000 England Howard Clark (6)
11 Aug PGA Championship United States US$700,000 United States Hubert Green (n/a) Major championship[b]
18 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 150,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle (12)
25 Aug Lufthansa German Open West Germany 100,000 West Germany Bernhard Langer (13)
1 Sep Panasonic European Open England 200,000 West Germany Bernhard Langer (14)
8 Sep Ebel European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 190,000 United States Craig Stadler (n/a)
22 Sep Sanyo Open Spain 120,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (26)
6 Oct Trophée Lancôme France 120,000 Zimbabwe Nick Price (2) Limited-field event
13 Oct Compagnie de Chauffe Cannes Open France 80,000 England Robert Lee (1)
27 Oct Benson & Hedges Spanish Open Spain 85,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (27)
2 Nov Portuguese Open Portugal 65,000 England 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 England n/a Team Europe Team event
29 Sep Suntory World Match Play Championship England 180,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros Limited-field event
20 Oct Dunhill Cup Scotland US$1,200,000 Team Australia New tournament
Team event
24 Nov World Cup United States US$743,000 Canada Dave Barr and
Canada Dan Halldorson 		Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy England 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.[10]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1 Scotland Sandy Lyle 162,553
2 West Germany Bernhard Langer 115,716
3 Spain Seve Ballesteros 103,042
4 Wales Ian Woosnam 82,235
5 Scotland Sam Torrance 79,567
6 England Howard Clark 79,386
7 Spain Manuel Piñero 71,116
8 Spain José María Cañizares 65,633
9 Scotland Gordon Brand Jnr 65,571
10 England Paul Way 63,097

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year West Germany Bernhard Langer [11]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Wales Paul Thomas [12]

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. ^ a b "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ Platts, Mitchell (22 November 1984). "A news world opens for European tour". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 28. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ Davies, David (22 November 1984). "Pro tour offers £4m". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 27. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Davies, David (31 July 1984). "Masters comes to Woburn". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 23. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Platts, Mitchell; Ballantine, John (22 January 1985). "St Andrews to be host of first £1 million event". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 25. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (26 July 1984). "Satellite tour takes off". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. p. 15. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  7. ^ "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 12 April 1985. p. 20. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Davies, David (24 April 1985). "Match play gap filled". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 25. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "1985 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Aces high". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Huddersfield, United Kingdom. 9 November 1985. p. 25. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Langer golfer of year". Evening Post. Nottingham, United Kingdom. 11 December 1985. p. 25. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Paul pips his pal in cash race". Manchester Evening News. Manchester, United Kingdom. 12 November 1985. p. 45. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.