2006 European Tour season
Duration10 November 2005 (2005-11-10) – 29 October 2006 (2006-10-29)
Number of official events47
Most winsEngland Paul Casey (3)[a]
Sweden Johan Edfors (3)
Order of MeritRepublic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington
Golfer of the YearEngland Paul Casey
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearScotland Marc Warren
← 2005
2007 →

The 2006 European Tour was the 35th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2006

Changes from the 2005 season included four new tournaments, the HSBC Champions in China, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the BA-CA Golf Open, which returned to the European Tour schedule for the first time since 1996, and the Royal Trophy, a team event contested between teams from Europe and Asia.[1] In addition, there were two editions of the Volvo China Open and the Imperial Collection Russian Open became a full European Tour event having previously been a dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour. The German Masters, the Heineken Classic, and the Abama Open de Canarias were lost from the tour schedule, as was the New Zealand Open which was held later in the year as part of the 2007 season.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2006 season.[2][3]

Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[b] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[c] 		Notes
13 Nov HSBC Champions China US$5,000,000 England David Howell (3) 48 AFR, ANZ, ASA New tournament
Limited-field event
27 Nov Volvo China Open China US$1,300,000 England Paul Casey (5) 18 ASA
4 Dec UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong US$1,200,000 Scotland Colin Montgomerie (30) 28 ASA
11 Dec Dunhill Championship South Africa €1,000,000 South Africa Ernie Els (22) 20 AFR
18 Dec South African Airways Open South Africa €1,000,000 South Africa Retief Goosen (13) 32 AFR[d]
22 Jan Abu Dhabi Golf Championship UAE US$2,000,000 United States Chris DiMarco (n/a) 42 New tournament
29 Jan Commercialbank Qatar Masters Qatar US$2,000,000 Sweden Henrik Stenson (3) 44 ASA
5 Feb Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$2,400,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 48
12 Feb Johnnie Walker Classic Australia £1,250,000 United States Kevin Stadler (n/a) 44 ANZ, ASA
19 Feb Maybank Malaysian Open Malaysia US$1,250,000 South Korea Charlie Wi (1) 20 ASA
26 Feb WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship United States US$7,500,000 Australia Geoff Ogilvy (1) 76 World Golf Championship
5 Mar Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open Indonesia US$1,000,000 England Simon Dyson (1) 20 ASA
12 Mar OSIM Singapore Masters Singapore US$1,000,000 Singapore Mardan Mamat (1) 20 ASA
19 Mar TCL Classic China US$1,000,000 Sweden Johan Edfors (1) 24 ASA
26 Mar Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos Portugal €700,000 France Jean van de Velde (2) 24
2 Apr Algarve Open de Portugal Portugal €1,250,000 England Paul Broadhurst (6) 24
9 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$7,000,000 United States Phil Mickelson (n/a) 100 Major championship
16 Apr Volvo China Open China US$1,800,000 India Jeev Milkha Singh (1) 24 ASA
23 Apr BMW Asian Open China US$1,800,000 Spain Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (2) 30 ASA
30 Apr Andalucía Open de España Valle Romano Spain €1,650,000 Sweden Niclas Fasth (4) 24
7 May Telecom Italia Open Italy €1,400,000 Italy Francesco Molinari (1) 24
14 May Quinn Direct British Masters England £1,800,000 Sweden Johan Edfors (2) 42
21 May Nissan Irish Open Ireland €2,200,000 Denmark Thomas Bjørn (9) 38
28 May BMW Championship England €4,250,000 England David Howell (4) 64 Flagship event
4 Jun Celtic Manor Wales Open Wales £1,500,000 Sweden Robert Karlsson (6) 28
11 Jun BA-CA Golf Open Austria €1,300,000 Austria Markus Brier (1) 24
18 Jun Aa St Omer Open France €400,000 Argentina César Monasterio (1) 18 CHA
18 Jun U.S. Open United States US$6,250,000 Australia Geoff Ogilvy (2) 100 Major championship
25 Jun Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Scotland £1,400,000 England Paul Casey (6) 24
2 Jul Open de France Alstom France €4,000,000 England John Bickerton (2) 40
9 Jul Smurfit Kappa European Open Ireland £2,400,000 Wales Stephen Dodd (3) 46
16 Jul Barclays Scottish Open Scotland £2,400,000 Sweden Johan Edfors (3) 50
23 Jul The Open Championship England £4,000,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 100 Major championship
30 Jul Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe Germany €3,600,000 Sweden Robert Karlsson (7) 50
6 Aug EnterCard Scandinavian Masters Sweden €1,600,000 Scotland Marc Warren (1) 24
13 Aug KLM Open Netherlands €1,600,000 England Simon Dyson (2) 24
20 Aug Imperial Collection Russian Open Russia US$1,000,000 Spain Alejandro Cañizares (1) 24
20 Aug PGA Championship United States US$6,800,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 100 Major championship
27 Aug WGC-Bridgestone Invitational United States US$7,500,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 76 World Golf Championship
3 Sep BMW International Open Germany €2,000,000 Sweden Henrik Stenson (4) 44
10 Sep Omega European Masters Switzerland €2,000,000 Wales Bradley Dredge (2) 24
17 Sep HSBC World Match Play Championship England £1,660,000 England Paul Casey (7) 48 Limited-field event
17 Sep XXXII Banco Madrid Valle Romano
Open de Madrid Golf Masters		 Spain €1,000,000 England Ian Poulter (7) 24
1 Oct WGC-American Express Championship England US$7,500,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 70 World Golf Championship
8 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington (10) 50 Pro-Am
22 Oct Mallorca Classic Spain €1,750,000 Sweden Niclas Fasth (5) 28
29 Oct Volvo Masters Spain €4,000,000 India Jeev Milkha Singh (2) 48 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 Winners OWGR
points 		Notes
8 Jan Royal Trophy Thailand US$1,250,000 Team Europe n/a New tournament
Team event
24 Sep Ryder Cup Ireland n/a Team Europe n/a Team event
10 Dec WGC-World Cup Barbados US$4,000,000 Germany Bernhard Langer and
Germany Marcel Siem		 n/a World Golf Championship
Team event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.[4][5]

Position Player Prize money (€)
1 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington 2,489,337
2 England Paul Casey 2,454,084
3 England David Howell 2,321,116
4 Sweden Robert Karlsson 2,044,936
5 South Africa Ernie Els 1,716,208
6 Sweden Henrik Stenson 1,709,359
7 England Luke Donald 1,658,060
8 England Ian Poulter 1,589,070
9 Scotland Colin Montgomerie 1,534,748
10 Sweden Johan Edfors 1,505,583

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year England Paul Casey [6]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Scotland Marc Warren [7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Tiger Woods won 5 events, but was not a European Tour member.
  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. ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour.
  4. ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event

References

  1. ^ "New events for 2006 European Tour". BBC Sport. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  2. ^ "2006 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  3. ^ "European Tour 2006". BBC Sport. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  4. ^ "2006 Order of Merit". European Tour. Archived from the original on 11 November 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  5. ^ Donegan, Lawrence (30 October 2006). "Harrington's second best pips Casey to Europe's first prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Casey named European Tour's golfer of the year". The Guardian. Press Association. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Warren named 'rookie of the year'". BBC Sport. 27 October 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

External links

European Tour seasons
Categories