1989 European Tour Explained
The 1989 European Tour, titled as the 1989 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 18th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
It was the second season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, that was announced in May 1987.[1]
Changes for 1989
The season was made up of 33 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and ten non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2] [3]
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Tenerife Open, the Dubai Desert Classic, the Volvo Open Championship, the Murphy's Cup (an approved special event), the BMW International Open and the Catalan Open, which replaced the cancelled Barcelona Open. A renewal of the Europcar Cup, a team event which debuted in 1988, was planned but was ultimately cancelled.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1989 season.[4]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse
(£) | Winner | OWGR
points | Notes |
|---|
| 26 Feb | Tenerife Open | Spain | 200,000 |  José María Olazábal (5) | 18 | New tournament |
| 5 Mar | Karl Litten Desert Classic | UAE | US$450,000 | Mark James (10) | 18 | New tournament |
| 13 Mar | Open Renault de Baleares | Spain | 225,000 |  Ove Sellberg (2) | 26 | |
19 Mar | Barcelona Open | Spain | – | Cancelled | – | |
| 19 Mar | Massimo Dutti Catalan Open | Spain | 200,000 | Mark Roe (1) | 18 | New tournament |
| 27 Mar | AGF Open | France | 150,000 | Mark James (11) | 16 | |
| 2 Apr | Volvo Open Championship | Italy | 200,000 |  Vijay Singh (1) | 16 | New tournament |
| 9 Apr | Jersey European Airways Open | Jersey | 150,000 |  Christy O'Connor Jnr (3) | 16 | |
| 9 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$1,000,000 | Nick Faldo (16) | 100 | Major championship |
| 16 Apr | Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open | France | 200,000 | Paul Broadhurst (1) | 14 | |
| 23 Apr | Cepsa Madrid Open | Spain | 225,000 | Seve Ballesteros (40) | 26 | |
| 30 Apr | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 250,000 | Bernhard Langer (20) | 40 | |
| 7 May | Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship | Wales | 300,000 | Seve Ballesteros (41) | 40 | Limited-field event |
| 14 May | Volvo Belgian Open | Belgium | 200,000 | Gordon J. Brand (1) | 18 | |
| 21 May | Lancia Italian Open | Italy | 225,000 | Ronan Rafferty (1) | 36 | |
| 30 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | 350,000 | Nick Faldo (17) | 64 | |
| 4 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 300,000 | Nick Faldo (18) | 42 | |
| 11 Jun | Wang Four Stars | England | 200,000 |  Craig Parry (1) | 18 | Pro-Am |
| 18 Jun | NM English Open | England | 250,000 | Mark James (12) | 16 | |
| 18 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$1,000,000 |  Curtis Strange (n/a) | 100 | Major championship |
| 25 Jun | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 250,000 | Ian Woosnam (12) | 38 | |
| 2 Jul | Peugeot Open de France | France | 325,000 | Nick Faldo (19) | 46 | |
| 8 Jul | Torras Monte Carlo Open | France | 300,000 |  Mark McNulty (8) | 24 | |
| 15 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | 300,000 | Michael Allen (1) | 46 | |
| 23 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | 725,000 | Mark Calcavecchia (n/a) | 100 | Major championship |
| 30 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | 275,000 | José María Olazábal (6) | 40 | |
| 6 Aug | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | 325,000 | Ronan Rafferty (2) | 32 | |
| 13 Aug | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 300,000 | Gordon Brand Jnr (7) | 34 | |
| 13 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$1,200,000 | Payne Stewart (n/a) | 100 | Major championship |
| 20 Aug | PLM Open | Sweden | 300,000 | Mike Harwood (2) | 24 | |
| 27 Aug | German Open | West Germany | 325,000 | Craig Parry (2) | 38 | |
| 3 Sep | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 425,000 | Seve Ballesteros (42) | 40 | |
| 10 Sep | Panasonic European Open | England | 350,000 | Andrew Murray (1) | 64 | |
| 17 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 400,000 |  Eduardo Romero (1) | 64 | Limited-field event |
| 8 Oct | German Masters | West Germany | 325,000 | Bernhard Langer (21) | 48 | |
| 15 Oct | BMW International Open | West Germany | 275,000 | David Feherty (3) | 22 | New tournament |
| 22 Oct | Portuguese Open TPC | Portugal | 275,000 | Colin Montgomerie (1) | 18 | |
| 29 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | 400,000 | Ronan Rafferty (3) | 40 | 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 |
|---|
| 19 Aug | Murphy's Cup | Wales | 160,000 |  Hugh Baiocchi | n/a | New tournament |
| 24 Sep | Ryder Cup | England | n/a | Tie (Team Europe retain) | n/a | Team event |
| 26 Sep | Equity & Law Challenge | England | 135,000 | Brett Ogle | n/a | |
| 30 Sep | Motorola Classic | England | 60,000 | David Llewellyn | 4 | |
| 1 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,200,000 | Team USA | n/a | Team event |
| 1 Oct | UAP European Under-25 Championship | France | n/a | Stephen Hamill | n/a | |
| 15 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 325,000 | Nick Faldo | 36 | Limited-field event |
5 Nov | Europcar Cup | France | – | Cancelled | – | Team event |
| 5 Nov | Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship | Japan | US$1,030,000 | Team USA | n/a | Team event |
| 12 Nov | Benson & Hedges Trophy | Spain | 200,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez and
Xonia Wunsch-Ruiz | n/a | Team event |
| 19 Nov | World Cup | Spain | US$1,000,000 | Peter Fowler and
Wayne Grady | n/a | Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Peter Fowler | n/a | | |
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.[5]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|
| 1 | | 400,311 |
| 2 | | 336,239 |
| 3 | | 277,322 |
| 4 | | 261,553 |
| 5 | | 245,917 |
| 6 | | 210,101 |
| 7 | | 205,195 |
| 8 | | 202,763 |
| 9 | | 179,694 |
| 10 | | 178,167 | |
Awards
See also
Notes and References
- News: Volvo boost for Euro golf . Black Country Evening Mail . Graeme . White . West Bromwich, United Kingdom . 33 . 26 May 1987 . 19 October 2023 . subscription . Newspapers.com.
- News: Rich pickings on the European Tour . Aberdeen Press and Journal . Aberdeen, United Kingdom . 18 October 1988 . 14 . British Newspaper Archive . 28 April 2020.
- News: Sport in short Fixtures Golf . Sandwell Evening Mail . Sandwell, United Kingdom . 1 February 1989 . 39 . British Newspaper Archive . 28 April 2020.
- Web site: 1989 Tournament schedule . European Tour . 20 October 2023.
- News: Rafferty hits heights to overshadow Faldo . The Daily Telegraph . Michael . Williams . London, United Kingdom . 38 . 30 October 1989 . 20 October 2023 . subscription . Newspapers.com.
- News: Now Faldo is putting on the Ritz . Evening Standard . Renton . Laidlaw . London, United Kingdom . 40 . 19 December 1989 . 20 October 2023 . subscription . Newspapers.com.
- News: Broadhurst picked for Cotton award . The Daily Telegraph . London, United Kingdom . 40 . 28 November 1989 . 20 October 2023 . subscription . Newspapers.com.
