2018 European Tour

2018 European Tour season
Duration23 November 2017 (2017-11-23) – 18 November 2018 (2018-11-18)
Number of official events47
Most winsEngland Matt Wallace (3)
Race to DubaiItaly Francesco Molinari
Golfer of the YearItaly Francesco Molinari
Players' Player of the YearItaly Francesco Molinari
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearIndia Shubhankar Sharma
Graduate of the YearSouth Africa Erik van Rooyen
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2019 →

The 2018 European Tour was the 47th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2018

There were changes to membership criteria with the reversal of some of the changes introduced for the 2017 season; the number of players gaining exemption from the final Race to Dubai standings reverted to the top 110 and the Access List was scrapped, largely replaced by a re-ranking system.[1]

The Race to Dubai points system was adjusted, with all prize money being converted into U.S. dollars before translating into points (1 point = 1 dollar) having previously been calculated after converting into euro. The points for all tournaments were also fixed prior to the start of the season, having previously been set during each tournament week, thereby negating any fluctuation in exchange rates.[1]

Tournament changes

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2018 season.[2]

Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
26 Nov UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong US$2,000,000 Australia Wade Ormsby (1) 34 ASA
3 Dec Australian PGA Championship Australia A$1,500,000 Australia Cameron Smith (n/a) 23 ANZ
3 Dec AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Mauritius €1,000,000 South Africa Dylan Frittelli (2) 17 AFR, ASA
11 Dec Joburg Open South Africa R16,500,000 India Shubhankar Sharma (1) 17 AFR, ASA
14 Jan BMW SA Open South Africa R15,000,000 England Chris Paisley (1) 32 AFR[c]
21 Jan Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship UAE US$3,000,000 England Tommy Fleetwood (4) 52
28 Jan Omega Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$3,000,000 China Li Haotong (2) 48
4 Feb Maybank Championship Malaysia US$3,000,000 India Shubhankar Sharma (2) 38 ASA
11 Feb ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth Australia A$1,750,000 Thailand Kiradech Aphibarnrat (4) 23 ANZ, ASA
18 Feb NBO Oman Open Oman US$1,750,000 Netherlands Joost Luiten (6) 24 New tournament
25 Feb Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Qatar US$1,750,000 England Eddie Pepperell (1) 24
4 Mar WGC-Mexico Championship Mexico US$10,000,000 United States Phil Mickelson (n/a) 72 World Golf Championship
4 Mar Tshwane Open South Africa R15,000,000 South Africa George Coetzee (4) 19 AFR
11 Mar Hero Indian Open India US$1,750,000 England Matt Wallace (2) 22 ASA
25 Mar WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play United States US$10,000,000 United States Bubba Watson (n/a) 74 World Golf Championship
8 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$11,000,000 United States Patrick Reed (2) 100 Major championship
15 Apr Open de España Spain €1,500,000 Spain Jon Rahm (3) 26
22 Apr Trophée Hassan II Morocco €2,500,000 France Alexander Lévy (5) 24
29 Apr Volvo China Open China CN¥20,000,000 Sweden Alexander Björk (1) 32 ASA
13 May Rocco Forte Sicilian Open Italy €1,000,000 Sweden Joakim Lagergren (1) 24
20 May Belgian Knockout Belgium €1,000,000 Spain Adrián Otaegui (2) 24
27 May BMW PGA Championship England US$7,000,000 Italy Francesco Molinari (5) 64 Flagship event[d]
3 Jun Italian Open Italy US$7,000,000 Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen (5) 38 Rolex Series
10 Jun Shot Clock Masters Austria €1,000,000 Finland Mikko Korhonen (1) 24
17 Jun U.S. Open United States US$12,000,000 United States Brooks Koepka (3) 100 Major championship
24 Jun BMW International Open Germany €2,000,000 England Matt Wallace (3) 24
1 Jul HNA Open de France France US$7,000,000 Sweden Alex Norén (10) 48 Rolex Series
8 Jul Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Ireland US$7,000,000 Scotland Russell Knox (2) 38 Rolex Series
15 Jul Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open Scotland US$7,000,000 South Africa Brandon Stone (3) 48 Rolex Series
22 Jul The Open Championship Scotland US$10,500,000 Italy Francesco Molinari (6) 100 Major championship
29 Jul Porsche European Open Germany €2,000,000 England Richard McEvoy (1) 24
5 Aug Fiji International Fiji A$1,250,000 India Gaganjeet Bhullar (1) 15 ANZ, ASA
5 Aug WGC-Bridgestone Invitational United States US$10,000,000 United States Justin Thomas (2) 74 World Golf Championship
12 Aug PGA Championship United States US$10,500,000 United States Brooks Koepka (4) 100 Major championship
19 Aug Nordea Masters Sweden €1,500,000 England Paul Waring (1) 24
26 Aug D+D Real Czech Masters Czech Republic €1,000,000 Italy Andrea Pavan (1) 24
2 Sep Made in Denmark Denmark €1,500,000 England Matt Wallace (4) 24
9 Sep Omega European Masters Switzerland €2,500,000 England Matt Fitzpatrick (5) 26
16 Sep KLM Open Netherlands €1,800,000 China Wu Ashun (3) 24
23 Sep Portugal Masters Portugal €2,000,000 England Tom Lewis (2) 24
7 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000 Denmark Lucas Bjerregaard (2) 38 Pro-Am
14 Oct Sky Sports British Masters England £3,000,000 England Eddie Pepperell (2) 38
22 Oct Andalucía Valderrama Masters Spain €2,000,000 Spain Sergio García (15) 24
28 Oct WGC-HSBC Champions China US$10,000,000 United States Xander Schauffele (1) 66 World Golf Championship
4 Nov Turkish Airlines Open Turkey US$7,000,000 England Justin Rose (11) 36 Rolex Series
Limited-field event
11 Nov Nedbank Golf Challenge South Africa US$7,500,000 England Lee Westwood (24) 34 Rolex Series
Limited-field event
18 Nov DP World Tour Championship, Dubai UAE US$8,000,000 England Danny Willett (6) 52 Tour Championship[d]

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 Winners OWGR
points 		Notes
14 Jan EurAsia Cup Malaysia n/a Team Europe n/a Team event
6 May GolfSixes England €1,000,000 Republic of Ireland Paul Dunne and
Republic of Ireland Gavin Moynihan 		n/a Team event
12 Aug European Golf Team Championships Scotland €550,000 Spain Scott Fernández and
Spain Pedro Oriol (Men) 		n/a Team event
Sweden Cajsa Persson and
Sweden Linda Wessberg (Women)
 Iceland (Team)
30 Sep Ryder Cup France n/a Team Europe n/a Team event
25 Nov ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf Australia US$7,000,000 Belgium Thomas Detry and
Belgium Thomas Pieters 		n/a Team event

Location of tournaments

Race to Dubai

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[3][4]

Pos. Player Majors WGCs Rolex Series Top 10s in other ET events Tmts Points and money[e]
Mas USO Opn PGA WGC
Mex 		WGC
MP 		WGC
Inv 		WGC
Cha 		BMW
PGA 		Ita Fra Ire Sco Tur Ned DPW
TC 		1 2 3 4 5 Reg.
points 		Bon.
($) 		Total
points
1 Italy Molinari T20 T25 1st T6 T25 17th T39 T43 1st 2nd • • • • • T26 12 4,791,521 1,250,000 6,041,521
2 United States Reed 1st 4th T28 CUT T37 T9 T28 T7 • • • • T23 • • T2 T9 11 3,963,351 750,000 4,713,351
3 England Fleetwood T17 2nd T12 T35 T14 T17 T14 T7 T20 T23 CUT • • T7 • T16 6th 1st T6 T2 T9 19 3,799,755 600,000 4,399,755
4 United States Schauffele T50 T6 T2 T35 T18 T17 68th 1st • • • • • • • T16 9 3,207,488 400,000 3,607,488
5 England Rose T12 T10 T2 T19 T37 • • T3 • • • • T9 1st • • T10 8th 11 3,431,616 500,000[f] 3,431,616
6 Sweden Norén CUT T25 T17 CUT T14 3rd T31 T18 T3 T23 1st • • • • T9 12 3,001,488 350,000 3,351,488
7 Northern Ireland McIlroy T5 CUT T2 T50 • T36 T6 T54 T2 • • T28 • • T21 T20 T3 2nd 13 2,990,654 325,000 3,315,654
8 Denmark Olesen • CUT T12 T56 • • T3 T7 T60 1st CUT T6 • T7 • T45 10th T2 4th 27 2,923,149 300,000 3,223,149
9 China Li T32 T16 T39 WD 63rd T59 T39 T11 T43 T19 T21 CUT T23 2nd T5 T30 1st T5 T9 27 2,843,291 275,000 3,118,291
10 England Wallace • CUT CUT • • • • T50 T20 T51 CUT CUT CUT T47 T5 T2 1st T3 1st 1st 32 2,637,527 250,000 2,887,527
  Win
  Top 10
  Made cut
  Missed cut
  Withdrew
• Did not play

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year Italy Francesco Molinari [7]
Players' Player of the Year (Seve Ballesteros Award) Italy Francesco Molinari [8]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year India Shubhankar Sharma [9]
Graduate of the Year South Africa Erik van Rooyen [10]

See also

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.
  2. ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour.
  3. ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event
  4. ^ a b Also a Rolex Series tournament.
  5. ^ In addition to tournament prize money, the top 10 point scorers received a share of a $5m bonus pool.[5]
  6. ^ By missing the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, Rose was not eligible for the bonus pool.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "European Tour reveals changes for 2018 season". Bunkered. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ^ "2018 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Race to Dubai Rankings". European Tour. 18 November 2018. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. ^ Jackson, Keith (18 November 2018). "Francesco Molinari savours winning Race to Dubai in career-best year". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  5. ^ Ballengee, Ryan (15 November 2018). "2018 Race to Dubai bonus pool, purse, winner's share, prize money payout". Golf News Net. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. ^ Rosser, Jack (12 November 2018). "Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose and Paul Casey skip season ending DP World Tour Championship". The Standard. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Francesco Molinari named 2018 Hilton European Tour Golfer of the Year". Today's Golfer. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Irish Open champ Rahm receives Seve Ballesteros Award". Irish Golfer. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2023. Ahead of the WGC-Mexico Championship, the 2018 Seve Ballesteros Award winner Francesco Molinari presented Rahm with the trophy...
  9. ^ "Golfer Shubhankar Sharma wins Rookie of the year honours". The Times of India. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Van Rooyen wins Graduate award". Compleat Golfer. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2023.