1991 European Tour season
Duration7 February 1991 (1991-02-07) – 27 October 1991 (1991-10-27)
Number of official events34[a]
Most winsWales Ian Woosnam (3)
Order of MeritSpain Seve Ballesteros
Golfer of the YearSpain Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearSweden Per-Ulrik Johansson
← 1990
1992 →

The 1991 European Tour, titled as the 1991 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, that was announced in May 1987.[1]

Changes for 1991

There were several changes from the previous season, with the return of both the Catalan Open and the Jersey Open; the addition of the Girona Open; the loss of the Tenerife Open; and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the PLM Open were merged to create the Scandinavian Masters.[2]

After provisionally being scheduled for 14–17 October, the Portuguese Open was moved to 21–24 March, taking the venue and dates of the Atlantic Open, which was lost from the calendar.[3] Also before the season started, three more tournaments were removed from the schedule; the Dubai Desert Classic was cancelled due to the Gulf War, the El Bosque Open was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship, and the AGF Open was cancelled as sponsors sought to replace the event's promotion company.[4] These changes resulted in a reduction to 34 counting tournaments for the Order of Merit.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1991 season.[5]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£) 		Winner[b] OWGR
points 		Notes
10 Feb Dubai Desert Classic UAE – Cancelled –
17 Feb El Bosque Open Spain – Cancelled –
24 Feb Girona Open Spain 250,000 England Steven Richardson (1) 24 New tournament
3 Mar Fujitsu Mediterranean Open France 400,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (17) 38
10 Mar Open de Baleares Spain 275,000 South Africa Gavan Levenson (2) 30
17 Mar Open Catalonia Spain 300,000 Spain José María Olazábal (10) 32
24 Mar Vinho Verde Atlantic Open Portugal – Cancelled –
24 Mar Portuguese Open Portugal 275,000 England Steven Richardson (2) 16
31 Mar Volvo Open di Firenze Italy 200,000 Sweden Anders Forsbrand (2) 16
7 Apr AGF Open France – Cancelled –
14 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$1,350,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (18) 100 Major championship[c]
14 Apr Jersey European Airways Open Jersey 200,000 Scotland Sam Torrance (14) 16
21 Apr Benson & Hedges International Open England 400,000 Germany Bernhard Langer (24) 52
28 Apr Madrid Open Spain 275,000 England Andrew Sherborne (1) 20
5 May Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open France 350,000 Northern Ireland David Feherty (4) 24
12 May Peugeot Spanish Open Spain 350,000 Argentina Eduardo Romero (3) 48
19 May Lancia Martini Italian Open Italy 325,000 Australia Craig Parry (3) 42
27 May Volvo PGA Championship England 500,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (44) 64 Flagship event
2 Jun Dunhill British Masters England 450,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros (45) 42
9 Jun Murphy's Cup England 350,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (3) 34
16 Jun Renault Belgian Open Belgium 250,000 Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson (1) 16
16 Jun U.S. Open United States US$1,300,000 United States Payne Stewart (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
23 Jun Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 375,000 England Nick Faldo (22) 48
30 Jun Peugeot Open de France France 400,000 Argentina Eduardo Romero (4) 42
6 Jul Torras Monte Carlo Open France 400,000 Wales Ian Woosnam (19) 44
13 Jul Bell's Scottish Open Scotland 500,000 Australia Craig Parry (4) 56
21 Jul The Open Championship England 900,000 Australia Ian Baker-Finch (2) 100 Major championship
28 Jul Heineken Dutch Open Netherlands 500,000 United States Payne Stewart (n/a) 44
4 Aug Scandinavian Masters Sweden 600,000 Scotland Colin Montgomerie (2) 48 New tournament
11 Aug European Pro-Celebrity England 250,000 England Paul Broadhurst (2) 16 Pro-Am
11 Aug PGA Championship United States US$1,350,000 United States John Daly (1) 100 Major championship[c]
18 Aug NM English Open England 450,000 England David Gilford (1) 30
25 Aug Volvo German Open Germany 525,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (11) 30
1 Sep GA European Open England 500,000 Australia Mike Harwood (5) 52
8 Sep Canon European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 450,000 South Africa Jeff Hawkes (1) 36
15 Sep Trophée Lancôme France 450,000 New Zealand Frank Nobilo (2) 56 Limited-field event
22 Sep Epson Grand Prix of Europe Wales 450,000 Spain José María Olazábal (11) 38 Limited-field event
29 Sep Mitsubishi Austrian Open Austria 250,000 England Mark Davis (1) 16
6 Oct Mercedes German Masters Germany 500,000 Germany Bernhard Langer (25) 50
13 Oct BMW International Open Germany 400,000 Scotland Sandy Lyle (16) 38
27 Oct Volvo Masters Spain 600,000 Australia Rodger Davis (6) 52 Tour Championship

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) OWGR
points 		Notes
17 Sep Equity & Law Challenge England 150,000 Scotland Brian Marchbank n/a
29 Sep Ryder Cup United States n/a Team USA n/a Team event
13 Oct Dunhill Cup Scotland US$1,700,000 Team Sweden n/a Team event
20 Oct Toyota World Match Play Championship England 500,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros 48 Limited-field event
3 Nov World Cup Italy US$1,100,000 Sweden Anders Forsbrand and
Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson 		n/a Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy Wales Ian Woosnam n/a
10 Nov Benson & Hedges Trophy Spain 200,000 Sweden Helen Alfredsson and
Sweden Anders Forsbrand 		n/a Team event
10 Nov Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship Australia US$1,150,000 Team Europe n/a Team event
22 Dec Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship Jamaica US$2,500,000 United States Fred Couples 64 Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[6][7]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1 Spain Seve Ballesteros 545,353
2 England Steven Richardson 393,155
3 Germany Bernhard Langer 372,703
4 Scotland Colin Montgomerie 343,575
5 Australia Craig Parry 328,116
6 Australia Rodger Davis 317,441
7 Spain José María Olazábal 302,270
8 Wales Ian Woosnam 257,433
9 England David Gilford 249,240
10 England Nick Faldo 245,892

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year Spain Seve Ballesteros [8]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson [9]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A further four tournaments were scheduled but were 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. ^ White, Graeme (26 May 1987). "Volvo boost for Euro golf". Black Country Evening Mail. West Bromwich, United Kingdom. p. 33. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Platts, Mitchell (13 October 1990). "Tour offers £20m pickings". The Times. p. 30. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ "European Tour itinerary". The Observer. London, United Kingdom. 24 February 1991. p. 46. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 16 January 1991. p. 16. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "1991 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Final Scores from Valderrama". The Times. 28 October 1991. p. 40. Retrieved 26 April 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ Williams, Michael (29 October 1991). "High returns for mediocrity may lead players to take soft option". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 17. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Whaley, David (11 December 1991). "Seve putts on the Ritz in Europe". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. p. 32. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Top rookie". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, United Kingdom. 27 November 1991. p. 46. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

European Tour seasons
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