1980 European Tour
The 1980 European Tour was the ninth official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.
| Duration | 17 April 1980 – 4 October 1980 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 23 |
| Most wins | 4:.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Seve Ballesteros |
| Official money list |  Sandy Lyle |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Paul Hoad |
← 1979 1981 → | |
The season was made up of 23 tournaments counting for the Official Money List, and some non-counting tournaments later known as "Approved Special Events".
The Official Money List was won by Scotland's Sandy Lyle.
Changes for 1980
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Newcastle Brown "900" Open, the Merseyside International Open and the Bob Hope British Classic; and the loss of the British PGA Matchplay Championship, the Portuguese Open and the Belgian Open.[1][2]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1980 season.
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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) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Sep | Hennessy Cognac Cup | England | n/a |   Team GB&I |
Team event |
| 12 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 100,000 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Greg Norman |
Limited-field event |
| 19 Oct | Trophée Lancôme | France | 45,000 |  Lee Trevino |
|
| 26 Oct | Cacharel World Under-25 Championship | France | n/a | Jack Renner |
|
| 14 Dec | World Cup | Colombia | n/a | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Dan Halldorson and Jim Nelford |
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Sandy Lyle |
Official money list
The official money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle | 66,060 |
| 2 | Greg Norman | 74,829 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros | 52,090 |
| 4 | Nick Faldo | 46,054 |
| 5 | Brian Barnes | 38,598 |
| 6 | Mark James | 33,907 |
| 7 | José María Cañizares | 35,534 |
| 8 | Ken Brown | 33,220 |
| 9 |  Bernhard Langer | 32,395 |
| 10 | Des Smyth | 31,521 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Hoad |
Notes
- 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. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
References
- Plumridge, Christopher (19 December 1979). "Television feat on 1980 tour". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Now Euro stars chase record £1.8m in circuit cash bonanza". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, England. 20 December 1979. p. 33. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via British Newspapers Archive.