The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's
professional golf tour in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
The organisation also operates the
European Senior Tour (for players aged 50 or older) and the developmental
Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...
; the second tier of men's professional golf in Europe. The tour's headquarters are at
Wentworth Club
Wentworth Club is a privately owned Golf course, golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the c ...
in
Virginia Water
Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its na ...
, Surrey, England. The European Tour was established by the British-based
Professional Golfers' Association through the 1970s, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984.
Most tournaments on the PGA European Tour's three tours are held in Europe, but starting in the 1980s an increasing number have been held in other parts of the world; in 2015 a majority of the ranking events on the European Tour were held outside Europe, though this included both Majors and
World Golf Championship events that are ranking events for multiple tours. Europe-based events are nearly all played in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
, with the most lucrative of them taking place in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain.
The PGA European Tour is a golfer-controlled organisation whose primary purpose is to maximise the income of
tournament golfers. It is a
company limited by guarantee
A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...
and is run by a professional staff but controlled by its playing members via a board of directors composed of 12 elected past and present tour players and a tournament committee of 14 current players. The Chairman of the Board is
Eric Nicoli, who replaced David Williams in 2023. The chairman of the tournament committee is
David Howell.
The PGA European Tour is the lead partner in Ryder Cup Europe, a joint venture also including the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland and PGA of Europe that operates the
Ryder Cup Matches in cooperation with the
PGA of America
The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...
. The PGA European Tour has a 60% interest in Ryder Cup Europe, with each of its junior partners holding 20%.
In June 2023, it was announced that the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
,
LIV Golf
LIV Golf ( ) is a professional men's golf tour. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022, at the Centurion Club near St Alba ...
and the European Tour would merge under a single organisation.
History
Professional golf began in Europe, specifically in Scotland. The first professionals were clubmakers and greenkeepers who also taught golf to the wealthy men who could afford to play the game (early handmade equipment was expensive) and played "challenge matches" against one another for purses put up by wealthy backers. The first multi-competitor
stroke play
Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...
tournament was
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
, which was introduced in 1860. Over the following decades, the number of golf tournaments offering prize money increased slowly but steadily. Most were in the United Kingdom, but there were also several "national opens" in various countries of
Continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
.
In 1901,
The Professional Golfers' Association was founded to represent the interests of professional golfers throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and it was this body that ultimately created the European Tour. As the tournament circuit grew, in 1937 the
Harry Vardon Trophy was created to be awarded to the member of the PGA with the best stroke average in select major stroke play tournaments of the season. This would later become known as the Order of Merit, and at different times has been calculated using stroke average, a points system and money earned. Each year the PGA would determine which tournaments were to be included for the Order of Merit.
By the post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
period prize money was becoming more significant, with sponsors being attracted by the introduction of
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
coverage, and as such it was becoming more feasible for professional golfers to make a living by playing alone. In the United States a formal organised tour, which later became known as the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
, had been administered by the
PGA of America
The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...
since the 1930s. However even into the 1960s and 1970s, the majority of tournaments in Europe were still organised separately by the host golf club or association, or a commercial promoter.
In 1972 The Professional Golfers' Association created an integrated "European tour" with the inclusion of eight major tournaments in Continental Europe on their Order of Merit schedule. These tournaments were the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, which was first included in 1970; the
Italian,
Spanish,
German and
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
Opens, which were included in 1971; and the
Dutch Open, the
Madrid Open and the
Lancia d'Oro tournament, which were included for the first time. As such the
1972 season is now officially recognised as the first season of the PGA European Tour. For several years, the British PGA and continental circuits continued to run separately, each with their own Order of Merit. Following the example set in the United States, and having been threatened with a breakaway, in 1975 the PGA agreed to amend their constitution giving the tournament side more autonomy with the formation of the ''Tournament Players Division''. In 1977 the Tournament Players Division joined with the ''Continental Tournament Players Association'' to become the European Tournament Players Division, and the following year it was agreed with the
European Golf Association that the Continental Order of Merit would be discontinued.
In its early years the season ran for six months from April to October, and was based entirely in Europe, mainly in Great Britain and Ireland. Over the next three decades the tour gradually lengthened and globalised. The first event held outside Europe was the 1982
Tunisian Open.
[ That year, there were 27 tournaments and the season stretched into November for the first time. In 1984, the PGA European Tour became independent of The Professional Golfers' Association. The following year, the tour became "all-exempt" with the end of pre-qualifying for tournaments.
The European Tour has always been sensitive to the risk that its best players will leave to play on the PGA Tour for many reasons. The PGA Tour usually offers higher purses and European players want to increase their chances of glory in the three majors played in the U.S. by playing on more U.S.-style courses to acclimate themselves. In an attempt to counter this phenomenon, the European Tour introduced the "Volvo Bonus Pool" in 1988. This was extra prize money which was distributed at the end of the season to the most successful players of the year—but only golfers who had played in a high number of the European Tour's events could receive a share. This system continued until 1998, after which renewed emphasis was placed on maximising prize money in individual tournaments.
In 1989, the tour visited ]Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
for the first time for the Dubai Desert Classic. By 1990, there were 38 events on the schedule, including 37 in Europe, and the start of the season had moved up to February. A first visit to East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
for the Tour occurred at the 1992 Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok. This has since proven to be one of the most notable initiatives in the history of the tour, as East Asia is becoming almost its second home. Shortly afterwards the tour also made its debut in the former Soviet Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
at the 1994 Czech Open, but much less has come of this development as participation in golf in the former Soviet region remains low and sponsors there are unable to compete financially with their Western European rivals for the limited number of slots available on the main tour each summer. However, the second-tier Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...
has visited Central and Eastern Europe somewhat more frequently. In 1995, the European Tour began a policy of co-sanctioning tournaments with other PGA Tours, by endorsing the South African PGA Championship on the Southern African Tour (now the Sunshine Tour
The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...
). This policy was extended to the PGA Tour of Australasia
The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...
in 1996, and most extensively to the Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...
.
In 1998, the European Tour added the three U.S. majors – the Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...
, the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...
and the U.S. Open – to its official schedule. The leading European Tour players had all been competing in them for many years, but now their prize money counted towards the Order of Merit (a year later for the Masters Tournament), which sometimes made a great deal of difference to the end-of-season rankings. The following year, in 1999, the World Golf Championships
The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more freque ...
were established with the three individual tournaments, also offering substantially more prize money than most European events, added to the European Tour schedule.
Since the minimum number of events that a player must play to retain membership of the European Tour was eleven, the addition of the majors and WGCs meant that players could potentially become members, or retain membership, of the tour by playing just four other events. Players such as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have taken advantage of this to play the PGA and European Tours concurrently. For the 2009 season, the minimum number of events required for members was increased to twelve; this coincided with the elevation of the HSBC Champions, previously a European Tour event co-sanctioned by three other tours, to World Golf Championships status. The minimum increased to 13 in 2011, but beginning in 2013 team events such as the Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...
and Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...
were allowed to count towards the minimum. In 2016 the 13-event minimum was changed to five events, not counting the four majors and four WGCs; while this change did not affect players eligible for all the majors and WGCs, it made it easier for players not eligible for these to retain European Tour membership while playing a full PGA Tour schedule. The minimum was reduced from five to four in 2018.
In November 2021, the tour was retitled as the DP World Tour as part of a sponsorship agreement with Dubai-based DP World.[
]
Strategic alliance with the PGA Tour
In November 2020, the tour entered into a "strategic alliance" with the PGA Tour. As part of the agreement, the PGA Tour acquired a 15% stake in European Tour Productions, the Scottish Open gained a new title sponsor and became co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, and two regular PGA Tour tournaments also became co-sanctioned by the European Tour: the Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship. There was also a new sponsor and increased prize fund for the Irish Open. In June 2022, in response to the emergence of LIV Golf
LIV Golf ( ) is a professional men's golf tour. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022, at the Centurion Club near St Alba ...
, the tours announced that the PGA Tour were increasing their stake to 40% and further changes to the tour, including increased prize funds and leading players in the DP World Tour Rankings gaining PGA Tour cards for the following season.
Status and prize money
The European Tour is considered the second most important tour in men's golf, behind the United States–based PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
, but retains significantly higher standing than other leading golf tours around the world. This status is reflected by the minimum world ranking points available in each tours respective tournaments, and prize money available. The total prize money available on the European Tour is approximately half that of the PGA Tour. However, this includes the majors and World Golf Championships
The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more freque ...
, which are the most lucrative on the schedule, so the difference for regular tournaments is substantially higher. There is also much more variation in prize funds between tournaments on the European Tour than on the PGA Tour. Even though the prize funds of many European Tour events have increased rapidly since the late 1990s, especially with the introduction of the ''Race to Dubai'' and the ''Rolex Series'', on occasion the European Tour has failed to attract as many leading players to its events as in the past, with even some of the top European players staying away.
For many players, the European Tour is seen as a stepping-stone to the PGA Tour. During the late twentieth century, the European Tour was traditionally the first overseas move for outstanding players from non-European countries, particularly in the Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
, long a major source for elite golfers, such as Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...
, Nick Price
Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1 ...
and Ernie Els. These players tended to move to the PGA Tour as a second step. When Continental Europe produced its first global golf stars in the 1970s, such as Seve Ballesteros, and especially when Europe began to notch wins over the United States in the Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...
in the mid-1980s, there was widespread optimism about the future standing of the European Tour relative to the PGA Tour. This has ebbed away as leading players continued to base themselves in the United States and several major European countries, such as Germany and Italy, have not regularly produced high-ranked golfers, as was formerly anticipated. Nonetheless, the number of European countries which have produced winners on the European Tour and PGA Tour has increased, with notable golfing depth developing in the Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n countries.
However, since the late-1990s more young golfers from around the world are starting their careers directly in the United States, often having attended college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
as amateurs, usually with golf scholarships, before turning professional. Conversely, some young American players have sought to kick-start their professional careers in Europe, having failed to qualify for either PGA Tour or its development tour. For example, former world number one amateur, Peter Uihlein, announced in December 2011 that he would not return for his final semester at Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...
and would begin professional play in Europe the following month, both through sponsor's exemptions on the main European Tour and on the developmental Challenge Tour. It is a route that has been successfully followed, most notably by multiple major winner Brooks Koepka.[
It has been claimed that the finances of the European Tour depend heavily on the Ryder Cup. Days before the start of the 2014 Ryder Cup, American golf journalist Bob Harig noted,]In simple terms, the European Tour loses money in non-Ryder Cup years, makes a tidy profit in years the event is played in the United States (where the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, owns the event and reaps the majority of the income), and then hits the lottery in years the tournament is staged in Europe. Earlier this year, '' Golfweek'' reported that the European Tour made more than 14 million pounds in pre-tax profit in 2010, the last time the Ryder Cup was staged in Europe. A year later, when there was no Ryder Cup, it lost more than 2.2 million pounds.
Harig also added that the PGA European Tour extracts significant concessions from Ryder Cup venues. The owners of the 2006 and 2010 venues (respectively Sir Michael Smurfit and Sir Terry Matthews) committed to hosting European Tour events at their venues for more than a decade after winning bidding, and guaranteed the purses for those tour events.
The structure of the European Tour season
A typical season
Since 2000, with the exception of 2012, the season has actually started late in the previous calendar year, but the seasons are still named by calendar year, rather than for example 2005–06, which would reflect the actual span of play. All of the events up until late March take place outside Europe, with most of these being co-sanctioned with other tours. From then on, the tour plays mainly in Europe, and the events in its home continent generally have higher prize money than those held elsewhere, excluding the major championships, which were added to the tour schedule in 1998; three individual World Golf Championships events, added the following year, most of which take place in the United States; and the HSBC Champions, elevated to World Golf Championships status in 2009.
There are generally only minor variations in the overall pattern from one year to the next. Occasionally tournaments change venue, and quite often change name, particularly when they get a new sponsor, but the principal events have fixed and traditional places in the schedule, and this determines the rhythm of the season.
Race to Dubai
In 2009, the Order of Merit was replaced by the Race to Dubai, with a bonus pool of US$7.5 million (originally $10 million) distributed among the top 15 players at the end of the season, with the winner taking $1.5 million[ (originally $2 million). The new name reflected the addition of a new season ending tournament, the Dubai World Championship, held at the end of November in Dubai. The tournament also had a $7.5 million prize fund][ (originally $10 million), and was contested by the leading 60 players in the race following the season's penultimate event, the Hong Kong Open. The winner of the Race to Dubai also receives a ten-year European Tour exemption, while the winner of the Dubai World Championship receives a five-year exemption. The reduction in prize money, announced in September 2009,][ was due to the global economic downturn. In 2012, the bonus pool was reduced to $3.75 million with the winner getting $1 million and only the top 10 golfers getting a bonus. The bonus pool was increased to $5 million in 2014 with the top 15 players earning part of the pool. 2019 saw further changes: in 2018 the top 10 finishers on the Race to Dubai shared the bonus pool of $5 million, but as of 2019 the sum was split between only the leading five finishers. Whoever topped the standings received an additional $2 million compared with the $1.25 million won by ]Francesco Molinari
Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer. He won the 2018 Open Championship, his first and only major victory, and the first major won by an Italian professional golfer. The Open Championship win capped a suc ...
in 2018. In addition, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai was cut to the top 50 golfers on the Race to Dubai list, the prize fund was kept at $8 million but the winner's share was increased to $3 million. This was designed to increase interest and player participation in the event.
In November 2021, the Race to Dubai was renamed the DP World Tour Rankings in line with the tour being retitled as the DP World Tour. However, in November 2022, the tour announced that the Rankings would be reverted to the Race to Dubai, starting from the 2023 season.
Rolex Series
For the 2017 season, the European Tour launched the Rolex Series, a series of events with higher prize funds than regular tour events. The series began with eight events, each with a minimum prize fund of $7 million. As of 2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
, the Rolex Series consists of five events, each with a purse of $9 million (except for the DP World Tour Championship with $10 million).
Order of Merit winners
The European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit" until 2009, when it was replaced by the Race to Dubai. It is calculated in euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
, although around half of the events have prize funds which are fixed in other currencies, mainly pounds sterling
Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...
or U.S. dollars. In these instances, the amounts are converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament is played. The winner of the Order of Merit receives the Harry Vardon Trophy, not to be confused with the Vardon Trophy awarded by the PGA of America
The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...
.
Leading career money winners
The table below shows the top 10 career money leaders on the European Tour. Due to increases in prize money over the years, it is dominated by current players. The figures are not the players' complete career earnings as most of them have earned millions more on other tours (especially the PGA Tour) or from non-tour events. In addition, elite golfers often earn several times as much from endorsements and golf-related business interests as they do from prize money.
''As of 10 December 2023.''
Awards
Golfer of the Year
The European Tour Golfer of the Year was an award handed by a panel comprising members of the Association of Golf Writers and commentators from television and radio. The award was created in 1985 and lasted until 2020, when it merged with the Players' Player of the Year award in 2021.
Players' Player of the Year
The European Tour Players' Player of the Year was inaugurated in 2008, with the winner being determined by a vote of tour members. In 2017 the award was renamed as the Seve Ballesteros Award in honour of the legendary Spanish golfer. From 2021 onwards, the Seve Ballesteros Award merged with the Golfer of the Year award, creating one singular honour voted for by the players.
Rookie of the Year
The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award is named after the English three-time The Open Championship, Open Champion Sir Henry Cotton. Originally chosen by Henry Cotton himself, the winner was later selected by a panel consisting of the PGA European Tour, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...
and the Association of Golf Writers. It is currently given to the rookie who places highest in the Race to Dubai. The award was first presented in 1960, and thus predates the official start of the tour in 1972. There have been five years when no award was made.
Graduate of the Year
The European Challenge Tour Graduate of the Year was inaugurated in 2013 and is awarded to the highest ranked player in the Race to Dubai who graduated from the Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...
in the previous season.
Winners
Chief Executives
Since the tour's formation in 1972, there have been five Chief Executives. They are as follows:
* John Jacobs (1972–1975)
* Ken Schofield (1975–2004)
* George O'Grady (2005–2015)
* Keith Pelley (2015–2024)
* Guy Kinnings (2024–present)
Television
* France: Canal+ Sport
* Germany: Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital su ...
* Italy: Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24.
Pay TV services on the Sky ...
* Portugal: Sport TV
* Spain: Movistar Golf
* United Kingdom and Ireland: Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
* Americas: Golf Channel
* Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia: Golf Channel
* Balkans: Sportklub
* Middle East and North Africa: Golflife
* Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport
* China: CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
* Japan: Golf Network
* Korea: JTBC Golf
* India: Sony TEN
* Thailandia, Malaysia: Golf Channel
* Singapore: StarHub
StarHub Limited, commonly known as StarHub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major Telecommunications in Singapore, telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Ex ...
* Hong Kong: Now Sports
* Scandinavia: Viasat Golf
* Vietnam: VTVCab
* Australia: Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
* New Zealand: Sky Sport NZ
See also
* List of golfers with most European Tour wins
* Ladies European Tour: the top European women's professional tour.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Golf
European Tour
Multi-national professional sports leagues