The 1998 European Tour, titled as the 1998 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 27th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

1998 European Tour season
Duration22 January 1998 (1998-01-22) – 1 November 1998 (1998-11-01)
Number of official events38[a]
Most winsEngland Lee Westwood (4)
Order of MeritScotland Colin Montgomerie
Golfer of the YearEngland Lee Westwood
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearFrance Olivier Edmond
1997
1999

Changes for 1998

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For the first time the schedule included the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and PGA Championship, although winnings did not count towards the Order of Merit. There were several changes from the previous season with the addition of the Qatar Masters, the return of the Belgian Open and the loss of the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

In March, the Chemapol Trophy Czech Open was cancelled in the wake of severe floods across the country in July 1997;[2] it was later replaced on the schedule by the German Open.[3] In July, the tour announced the cancellation of the Oki Pro-Am.[4]

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1998 season.[5][6][7]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)
Winner[b] OWGR
points
Other
tours[c]
Notes
25 Jan Johnnie Walker Classic Thailand 750,000   Tiger Woods (n/a) 40 ANZ
1 Feb Heineken Classic Australia A$1,200,000   Thomas Bjørn (2) 34 ANZ
8 Feb South African Open South Africa 450,000   Ernie Els (6) 30 AFR
15 Feb Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship South Africa 400,000   Tony Johnstone (5) 36 AFR
1 Mar Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$1,300,000   José María Olazábal (18) 42
8 Mar Qatar Masters Qatar US$1,000,000   Andrew Coltart (1) 30 New tournament
15 Mar Moroccan Open Morocco 350,000   Stephen Leaney (1) 20
22 Mar Portuguese Open Portugal 350,000   Peter Mitchell (3) 20
12 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$3,200,000   Mark O'Meara (n/a) 100 Major championship[d]
19 Apr Cannes Open France 300,000   Thomas Levet (1) 20
26 Apr Peugeot Open de España Spain 550,000   Thomas Bjørn (3) 28
3 May Italian Open Italy 500,000   Patrik Sjöland (1) 22
10 May Turespaña Masters Open Baleares Spain 350,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (3) 20
17 May Benson & Hedges International Open England 750,000   Darren Clarke (3) 36
25 May Volvo PGA Championship England 1,200,000   Colin Montgomerie (15) 64 Flagship event
1 Jun Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe Germany 1,100,000   Lee Westwood (3) 42
7 Jun National Car Rental English Open England 650,000   Lee Westwood (4) 34
14 Jun Compaq European Grand Prix England Abandoned[e]
21 Jun Madeira Island Open Portugal 300,000   Mats Lanner (3) 20
21 Jun U.S. Open United States US$3,000,000   Lee Janzen (n/a) 100 Major championship[d]
28 Jun Peugeot Open de France France 500,000   Sam Torrance (21) 22
5 Jul Murphy's Irish Open Ireland 1,000,000   David Carter (1) 38
11 Jul Standard Life Loch Lomond Scotland 850,000   Lee Westwood (5) 42
19 Jul The Open Championship England 1,700,000   Mark O'Meara (n/a) 100 Major championship
26 Jul TNT Dutch Open Netherlands 800,000   Stephen Leaney (2) 36
2 Aug Volvo Scandinavian Masters Sweden 800,000   Jesper Parnevik (4) 34
9 Aug Chemapol Trophy Czech Open Czech Republic Cancelled
9 Aug German Open Germany 700,000   Stephen Allan (1) 20
16 Aug PGA Championship United States US$3,000,000   Vijay Singh (8) 100 Major championship[d]
23 Aug Smurfit European Open Ireland 1,200,000   Mathias Grönberg (2) 38
30 Aug BMW International Open Germany 850,000   Russell Claydon (1) 32
6 Sep Canon European Masters Switzerland 800,000   Sven Strüver (3) 34
13 Sep One 2 One British Masters England 750,000   Colin Montgomerie (16) 34
20 Sep Trophée Lancôme France 800,000   Miguel Ángel Jiménez (4) 44
27 Sep Linde German Masters Germany 1,000,000   Colin Montgomerie (17) 40
4 Oct Belgacom Open Belgium 400,000   Lee Westwood (6) 22
25 Oct Oki Pro-Am Spain Cancelled
1 Nov Volvo Masters Spain 1,000,000   Darren Clarke (4) 42 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
11 Oct Alfred Dunhill Cup Scotland 1,000,000   Team South Africa n/a Team event
18 Oct Cisco World Match Play Championship England 650,000   Mark O'Meara 44 Limited-field event
18 Oct Open Novotel Perrier France 350,000   Olle Karlsson and
  Jarmo Sandelin
n/a Team event
8 Nov Subaru Sarazen World Open United States US$2,000,000   Dudley Hart 38
22 Nov World Cup of Golf New Zealand US$1,300,000   David Carter and
  Nick Faldo
n/a Team event
World Cup of Golf Individual Trophy US$200,000   Scott Verplank n/a

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.[9]

Position Player Prize money (£)
1   Colin Montgomerie 993,077
2   Darren Clarke 902,867
3   Lee Westwood 814,386
4   Miguel Ángel Jiménez 518,819
5   Patrik Sjöland 500,137
6   Thomas Bjørn 470,798
7   José María Olazábal 449,132
8   Ernie Els 433,884
9   Andrew Coltart 388,816
10   Mathias Grönberg 358,779

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year   Lee Westwood [10]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year   Olivier Edmond [11]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A further three tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or abandoned.
  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. ^ AFR − Southern Africa Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia.
  4. ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
  5. ^ Tournament abandoned due to persistent bad weather.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Czech Open cancelled". The Irish Times. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ "In brief | Golf switch". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, United Kingdom. 20 March 1998. p. 38. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ Smith, Colm (29 July 1998). "KO for the OKI pro-am". Irish Independent. Dublin, Ireland. p. 25. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "1998 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Scoreboard | Golf | 1998 European schedule". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 25 September 1997. p. 45. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Davies, David (21 January 1998). "Faldo Ready for the year of the Tiger". The Guardian. London, England. p. 23. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Webb, Mel (15 June 1998). "Rain check costs Stewart dear". The Times. London, England. p. 42. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  9. ^ Hopkins, John (2 November 1998). "Montgomerie hits his rivals for six". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 26. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  10. ^ "Lee's predicting Major joy for Faldo". Lincolnshire Echo. Lincoln, United Kingdom. 15 December 1998. p. 27. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com. This season's European Golfer of the Year...
  11. ^ Britten, Michael (18 November 1998). "Rose attempts to blossom again". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 29. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com. The Frenchman Olivier Edmond has become the 34th recipient of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award on the European Tour.
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