| Year: | 2003 |
| Tour: | European Tour |
| Regular Season: | – |
| No Of Events: | 45 |
| Most Wins: |  Ernie Els (4) |
| Honor1: | Order of Merit |
| Honoree1: | Ernie Els |
| Honor3: | Golfer of the Year |
| Honoree3: | Ernie Els |
| Honor4: | Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |
| Honoree4: |  Peter Lawrie |
| Prevseason: | 2002 |
| Nextseason: | 2004 |
The 2003 European Tour was the 32nd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
There were four new tournaments to the European Tour in 2003, the Nordic Open[1] and three dual-ranking events, the Aa St Omer Open, BMW Russian Open and Mallorca Classic. Lost from the tour schedule were the English Open, Great North Open and the dual-ranking North West of Ireland Open.[2]
The following table lists official events during the 2003 season.[3]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Nov | BMW Asian Open | Taiwan | US$1,500,000 | Pádraig Harrington (6) | 16 | |||
| 1 Dec | Omega Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$700,000 |  Freddie Jacobson (1) | 16 | |||
| 12 Jan | South African Airways Open | South Africa | £500,000 | Trevor Immelman (1) | 32 | |||
| 19 Jan | Dunhill Championship | South Africa | £500,000 | Mark Foster (1) | 18 | |||
| 26 Jan | Caltex Masters | Singapore | US$900,000 |  Zhang Lianwei (1) | 20 | |||
| 2 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | A$2,000,000 | Ernie Els (12) | 30 | |||
| 9 Feb | ANZ Championship | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Paul Casey (2) | 30 | |||
| 16 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | £1,000,000 | Ernie Els (13) | 44 | |||
| 23 Feb | Carlsberg Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$1,100,000 |  Arjun Atwal (2) | 20 | |||
| 2 Mar | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 |  Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | World Golf Championship | ||
| 9 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,000,000 |  Robert-Jan Derksen (1) | 30 | |||
| 16 Mar | Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$1,500,000 | Darren Fichardt (2) | 24 | |||
| 23 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | €600,000 | Bradley Dredge (1) | 24 | |||
| 13 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$6,000,000 |  Mike Weir (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | ||
| 20 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,250,000 | Freddie Jacobson (2) | 24 | |||
| 27 Apr | Canarias Open de España | Spain | €1,750,000 | Kenneth Ferrie (1) | 24 | |||
| 4 May | Italian Open Telecom Italia | Italy | €1,100,000 | Mathias Grönberg (4) | 24 | |||
| 11 May | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | £1,100,000 | Paul Casey (3) | 42 | |||
| 18 May | Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe | Germany | €2,700,000 | Pádraig Harrington (7) | 48 | |||
| 25 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | €3,500,000 |  Ignacio Garrido (2) | 64 | Flagship event | ||
| 1 Jun | Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open | Wales | £1,500,000 | Ian Poulter (4) | 24 | |||
| 8 Jun | Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters | England | £1,500,000 | Greg Owen (1) | 24 | |||
| 15 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | €400,000 |  Brett Rumford (1) | 16 | New to European Tour | ||
| 15 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$6,000,000 | Jim Furyk (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | ||
| 22 Jun | Diageo Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | £1,200,000 |  Søren Kjeldsen (1) | 24 | |||
| 29 Jun | Open de France | France | €2,500,000 | Philip Golding (1) | 24 | |||
| 6 Jul | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | £2,000,000 | Phillip Price (3) | 44 | |||
| 13 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | £2,200,000 | Ernie Els (14) | 50 | |||
| 20 Jul | The Open Championship | England | £3,900,000 | Ben Curtis (1) | 100 | Major championship | ||
| 27 Jul | Nissan Irish Open | Ireland | €1,800,000 |  Michael Campbell (6) | 24 | |||
| 3 Aug | Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | €1,900,000 | Adam Scott (4) | 24 | |||
| 10 Aug | Nordic Open | Denmark | €1,600,000 | Ian Poulter (5) | 24 | New tournament | ||
| 17 Aug | BMW Russian Open | Russia | €400,000 | Marcus Fraser (1) | 16 | New to European Tour | ||
| 17 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 | Shaun Micheel (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | ||
| 24 Aug | WGC-NEC Invitational | United States | US$6,000,000 | Darren Clarke (10) | 78 | World Golf Championship | ||
| 31 Aug | BMW International Open | Germany | €1,800,000 | Lee Westwood (15) | 30 | |||
| 7 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €1,600,000 | Ernie Els (15) | 30 | |||
| 14 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | €1,800,000 | Retief Goosen (9) | 26 | |||
| 21 Sep | Linde German Masters | Germany | €3,000,000 |  K. J. Choi (n/a) | 48 | |||
| 28 Sep | Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Lee Westwood (16) | 52 | Pro-Am | ||
| 5 Oct | WGC-American Express Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | World Golf Championship | ||
| 12 Oct | Dutch Open | Netherlands | €1,000,000 | Maarten Lafeber (1) | 24 | |||
| 19 Oct | Turespaña Mallorca Classic | Spain | €400,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (7) | 16 | New tournament | ||
| 26 Oct | Telefónica Open de Madrid | Spain | €1,400,000 |  Ricardo González (2) | 30 | |||
| 2 Nov | Volvo Masters Andalucía | Spain | US$4,000,000 | Freddie Jacobson (3) | 46 | Tour Championship |
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 Oct | HSBC World Match Play Championship | England | £2,300,000 | n/a | Limited-field event | ||
| 9 Nov | Spain | n/a | Team GB&I | n/a | Team event | ||
| 18 Nov | United States | US$4,000,000 | n/a | World Golf Championship Team event |
The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.[4] [5]
| Position | Player | Prize money (€) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,975,374 | ||
| 2 | 2,210,051 | ||
| 3 | 1,555,623 | ||
| 4 | 1,521,303 | ||
| 5 | 1,500,855 | ||
| 6 | 1,360,456 | ||
| 7 | 1,330,713 | ||
| 8 | 1,327,148 | ||
| 9 | 1,245,513 | ||
| 10 | 1,234,018 |
| Award | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| [6] | |||
| [7] |