1973 European Tour

1973 European Tour season

Duration	28 March 1973 (1973-03-28) – 6 October 1973 (1973-10-06)
Number of official events	21
Most wins	Peter Oosterhuis (3)
Order of Merit	Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Pip Elson
← 1972 1974 →

The 1973 European Tour, titled as the 1973 PGA European Tour, ^[1] was the second season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1973

There were three changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Portuguese Open and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the loss of the John Player Trophy. ^[2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1973 season. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (£)	Winner [lower-alpha 1]	Notes
31 Mar	Madrid Open	Spain	15,000	Germán Garrido (1)
7 Apr	Portuguese Open	Portugal	15,000	Jaime Benito (1)	New to European Tour
9 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$224,825	Tommy Aaron (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
14 Apr	Spanish Open	Spain	25,000	Neil Coles (2)
21 Apr	Italian Open	Italy	25,750	Tony Jacklin (2)
28 Apr	Piccadilly Medal	England	12,000	Peter Oosterhuis (2)
12 May	Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament	England	8,000	Eddie Polland (1)
26 May	Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship	England	20,000	Neil Coles (3)
3 Jun	French Open	France	15,000	Peter Oosterhuis (3)
9 Jun	Martini International	Scotland	10,000	Maurice Bembridge (1)
17 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$227,200	Johnny Miller (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
24 Jun	Carroll's International	Ireland	15,000	Paddy McGuirk (1)
30 Jun	Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open	Scotland	15,000	Graham Marsh (3)
14 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	50,000	Tom Weiskopf (n/a)	Major championship
22 Jul	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	Sweden	19,410	Bob Charles (3)	New tournament
29 Jul	Swiss Open	Switzerland	17,850	Hugh Baiocchi (1)
5 Aug	German Open	West Germany	17,210	Francisco Abreu (1)
12 Aug	Dutch Open	Netherlands	18,700	Doug McClelland (1)
12 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$225,000	Jack Nicklaus (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
18 Aug	Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf	England	15,000	Vin Baker (1)
25 Aug	Viyella PGA Championship	England	15,000	Peter Oosterhuis (4)
8 Sep	W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament	England	15,000	Charles Coody (n/a)
29 Sep	John Player Classic	Scotland	58,000	Charles Coody (n/a)
6 Oct	Dunlop Masters	Wales	15,000	Tony Jacklin (3)

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
19 May	Sumrie Better-Ball	Scotland	8,000	Neil Coles and Bernard Hunt	Team event
16 Jun	Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship	England	4,000	Bernard Gallacher
20 Jul	Lord Derby's Under-25 Match Play Championship	England	2,500	Brian Thompson
1 Sep	Double Diamond International	England	15,000	Team Scotland	Team event
22 Sep	Ryder Cup	Scotland	n/a	Team USA	Team event
13 Oct	Piccadilly World Match Play Championship	England	30,000	Gary Player	Limited-field event
25 Nov	World Cup	Spain	US$4,200	Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy		US$2,100	Johnny Miller

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system. ^{[4] [6] [7]}

Position	Player	Points	Prize money (£)
1	Peter Oosterhuis	3,440	17,455
2	Maurice Bembridge	2,980	10,773
3	Hugh Baiocchi	2,904	11,870
4	Dale Hayes	2,736	10,188
5	Brian Barnes	2,676	9,778
6	Eddie Polland	2,635	8,146
7	Tony Jacklin	2,588	24,840
8	Bernard Gallacher	2,561	8,676
9	Neil Coles	2,437	14,748
10	Jack Newton	2,399	7,939

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Pip Elson	[8]

Notes

1. 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.
2. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

1. "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
2. Rodney, Bob (26 January 1973). "Top two for Player Classic" . Daily Mirror. London, United Kingdom. p. 27. Retrieved 15 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "1973 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
4. Simms, George (1974). John Player Golf Yearbook 1974. Queen Anne Press. pp. 82–136. ISBN   0362001758.
5. "£½m. to be won on PGA circuit". Glasgow Herald. 19 January 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020– via Google News Archive.
6. "Oosty ahead of Bembridge" . Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 13 October 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 15 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Brittiska Cirkusen | Order of Merit" [British Tour | Order of Merit]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8. December 1973. p. 48. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
8. "Cotton's guidance wins 'rookie' title for Elson" . The Birmingham Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 5 October 1973. p. 15. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Official website