The 1988 European Tour, titled as the 1988 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

1988 European Tour season
Duration10 March 1988 (1988-03-10) – 30 October 1988 (1988-10-30)
Number of official events30[a]
Most winsSpain Seve Ballesteros (5)
Order of MeritSpain Seve Ballesteros
Golfer of the YearSpain Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearScotland Colin Montgomerie
1987
1989

Volvo title sponsorship

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In May 1987, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, being renamed as the Volvo Tour.[1] The agreement was reported to be worth £10,000,000 over five years.[2]

Changes for 1988

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The season was made up of 30 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".[3]

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Open de Baleares, the Biarritz Open, the English Open and the Volvo Masters; the return of the Torras Hostench Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International.[4][5] The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.[6]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1988 season.[7]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)
Winner[b] OWGR
points
Notes
13 Mar Mallorca Open de Baleares Spain 200,000   Seve Ballesteros (35) 20 New tournament
20 Mar Torras Hostench Barcelona Open Spain 200,000   David Whelan (1) 18
3 Apr AGF Biarritz Open France 150,000   David Llewellyn (1) 16 New tournament
10 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$1,000,000   Sandy Lyle (14) 100 Major championship[c]
17 Apr Cannes Open France 200,000   Mark McNulty (7) 20
24 Apr Cepsa Madrid Open Spain 200,000   Derrick Cooper (1) 22
1 May Portuguese Open Portugal 200,000   Mike Harwood (1) 18
8 May Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship Wales 275,000   Bernhard Langer (19) 40 Limited-field event
15 May Peugeot Spanish Open Spain 175,000   Mark James (9) 38
22 May Lancia Italian Open Italy 225,000   Greg Norman (12) 24
30 May Volvo PGA Championship England 300,000   Ian Woosnam (9) 44
5 Jun Dunhill British Masters England 250,000   Sandy Lyle (15) 42
12 Jun Wang Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity England 200,000   Rodger Davis (3) 20 Pro-Am
19 Jun Volvo Belgian Open Belgium 200,000   José María Olazábal (3) 16
19 Jun U.S. Open United States US$1,000,000   Curtis Strange (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
26 Jun Peugeot Open de France France 275,000   Nick Faldo (14) 40
2 Jul Monte Carlo Open France 200,000   José Rivero (3) 24
9 Jul Bell's Scottish Open Scotland 250,000   Barry Lane (1) 44
17 Jul The Open Championship England 500,000   Seve Ballesteros (36) 100 Major championship
24 Jul KLM Dutch Open Netherlands 250,000   Mark Mouland (2) 34
31 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 250,000   Seve Ballesteros (37) 34
7 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 250,000   Peter Baker (1) 38
14 Aug PLM Open Sweden 200,000   Frank Nobilo (1) 16
14 Aug PGA Championship United States US$1,000,000   Jeff Sluman (n/a) 100 Major championship[c]
21 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 225,000   Ian Woosnam (10) 42
28 Aug German Open West Germany 275,000   Seve Ballesteros (38) 38
4 Sep Ebel European Masters Swiss Open Switzerland 400,000   Chris Moody (1) 44
11 Sep Panasonic European Open England 300,000   Ian Woosnam (11) 42
18 Sep Trophée Lancôme France 400,000   Seve Ballesteros (39) 46 Limited-field event
25 Sep German Masters West Germany 300,000   José María Olazábal (4) 44
2 Oct English Open England 175,000   Howard Clark (11) 16 New tournament
9 Oct
6 Mar
Moroccan Open Morocco Cancelled
23 Oct BNP Jersey Open Jersey 125,000   Des Smyth (6) 16
30 Oct Volvo Masters Spain 350,000   Nick Faldo (15) 44 New tournament
Tour Championship

Unofficial events

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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
10 Oct Suntory World Match Play Championship England 275,000   Sandy Lyle 32 Limited-field event
16 Oct Dunhill Cup Scotland US$1,000,000   Team England n/a Team event
18 Oct Equity & Law Challenge England 125,000   Ronan Rafferty n/a
27 Oct UAP European Under-25 Championship France n/a   Jean van de Velde n/a
6 Nov Europcar Cup France n/a   Team Sweden n/a Team event
13 Nov Benson & Hedges Trophy Spain 200,000   Mark McNulty and
  Marie-Laure Taya
n/a Team event
11 Dec World Cup Australia US$750,000   Ben Crenshaw and
  Mark McCumber
n/a Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy   Ben Crenshaw n/a
18 Dec Kirin Cup United States US$1,000,000   Team USA n/a Team event

Order of Merit

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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.[8][9]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1   Seve Ballesteros 451,560
2   Nick Faldo 347,971
3   José María Olazábal 285,964
4   Ian Woosnam 234,991
5   Sandy Lyle 186,018
6   Mark McNulty 180,992
7   Des Smyth 171,951
8   Mark James 152,900
9   Ronan Rafferty 132,395
10   José Rivero 131,079

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year   Seve Ballesteros [10]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year   Colin Montgomerie [11]

Notes

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  1. ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was 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

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  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. ^ Williams, Michael (26 May 1987). "PGA Tour in £10m Volvo deal". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 29. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Platts, Mitchell (1 December 1987). "Shooting for £10m in the rosy tour garden of Europe". The Times. p. 42. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ Davies, David (1 December 1987). "Rich pickings for Europe's Volvo drivers". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. ^ "At last! English get their own Open". Irish Independent. 26 January 1988. p. 15. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Sport in brief | Open closed". The Times. 12 September 1988. p. 38. Retrieved 26 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ "1988 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Golf | European Order of Merit". Birmingham Metronews. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 2 November 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Moseley, Ron (1 November 1988). "Europeans on top of the world". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Huddersfield, United Kingdom. Press Association. p. 13. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Laidlaw, Renton (20 December 1988). "Seve wins another award". Evening Standard. London, United Kingdom. p. 38. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Colin named top 'Rookie'". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. 14 November 1988. p. 17. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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