1984 European Tour
The 1984 European Tour was the 13th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour. It was the first year for the tour as an independent entity, having previously been organised by European Tournament Players Division of the Professional Golfers' Association.[1]
| Duration | 12 April 1984 – 4 November 1984 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26[lower-alpha 1] |
| Most wins | 4: Bernhard Langer |
| Order of Merit | Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Philip Parkin |
← 1983 1985 → | |
The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2][3]
The Order of Merit was won by West Germany's Bernhard Langer, who won four tournaments during the season and finished as joint runner-up in The Open Championship.
Changes for 1984
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Monte Carlo Open,[4] the Celtic International[5] and the Cannes Open;[6] and the loss of the Martini International[7] and the British Masters.[3] In addition the English Golf Classic was merged with the Lawrence Batley International.
Soon after the schedule was revealed, it was announced that the Bob Hope British Classic had been cancelled;[8] the Sanyo Open was brought forward from October to fill the vacated dates.
Order of Merit name change
The money list reverted to its original title as the "Order of Merit", having been known as the "Official Money List" for the preceding four seasons.[1]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1984 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Sep | Hennessy Cognac Cup | England | n/a |  Team England |
Team event |
| 30 Sep | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 150,000 |  Seve Ballesteros |
Limited-field event |
| 18 Nov | World Cup | Italy | US$150,000 | José María Cañizares and José Rivero |
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | José María Cañizares |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernhard Langer | 139,344 |
| 2 |  Sam Torrance | 112,657 |
| 3 | Howard Clark | 101,903 |
| 4 | Sandy Lyle | 99,649 |
| 5 | Seve Ballesteros | 96,503 |
| 6 | Ian Woosnam | 62,080 |
| 7 | Gordon Brand Jnr | 59,116 |
| 8 | José María Cañizares | 57,418 |
| 9 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Jerry Anderson | 56,121 |
| 10 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} David Frost | 55,642 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Philip Parkin |
Notes
- A further one tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- 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
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- Jacobs, Raymond (18 November 1983). "£4m jackpot for European golfers". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 29. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "£3m tour package". The Guardian. London, England. 18 November 1983. p. 25. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Davies, David (27 September 1983). "High stakes in Monte". The Guardian. London, England. p. 22. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Nigel beats his handicap". The Guardian. 11 November 1983. Retrieved 6 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Platts, Mitchell (17 November 1983). "European golf cash soars to over £3m". Aberdeen Evening Express. Aberdeen, Scotland. p. 14. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- Hennessy, John (28 July 1983). "Martini pulls out of tour". The Times. London, England. p. 20. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- Jacobs, Raymond (25 November 1983). "No Hope as sponsors pull out". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 24. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.