1978 European Tour

1978 European Tour season

Duration	6 April 1978 (1978-04-06) – 22 October 1978 (1978-10-22)
Number of official events	21
Most wins	Seve Ballesteros (4)
Order of Merit	Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sandy Lyle
← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 European Tour, titled as the 1978 PGA European Tournament Players' Division, ^[1] was the seventh season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1978

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Belgian Open, the B.A./Avis Open in Jersey, and the European Open Championship; the return of the Sumrie Better-Ball; and the loss of the Uniroyal International Championship, the Callers of Newcastle, and the Double Diamond team and individual events. In addition, the Kerrygold International was omitted from the schedule in 1978 due to the World Cup being held at Waterville. ^{[2] [3]} The Lancome Trophy, which clashed with the new European Open, was also missing. ^[4]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1978 season. ^{[5] [6]}

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (£)	Winner [lower-alpha 1]	Notes
9 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$262,402	Gary Player (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
15 Apr	Portuguese Open	Portugal	25,000	Howard Clark (1)
22 Apr	Spanish Open	Spain	30,000	Brian Barnes (5)
29 Apr	Madrid Open	Spain	20,500	Howard Clark (2)
7 May	Italian Open	Italy	27,700	Dale Hayes (2)
15 May	French Open	France	35,000	Dale Hayes (3)
21 May	Martini International	England	30,000	Seve Ballesteros (5)
29 May	Colgate PGA Championship	England	50,000	Nick Faldo (2)
4 Jun	B.A./Avis Open	Jersey	20,000	Brian Huggett (2)	New tournament
11 Jun	Belgian Open	Belgium	25,000	Noel Ratcliffe (1)	New to European Tour
18 Jun	Greater Manchester Open	England	20,000	Brian Barnes (6)
18 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$310,200	Andy North (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
1 Jul	Sun Alliance Match Play Championship	Scotland	40,000	Mark James (1)
15 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	125,000	Jack Nicklaus (n/a)	Major championship
23 Jul	Dutch Open	Netherlands	30,300	Bob Byman (3)
30 Jul	Braun German Open	West Germany	30,000	Seve Ballesteros (6)
6 Aug	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	Sweden	35,000	Seve Ballesteros (7)
6 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$300,000	John Mahaffey (n/a)	Major championship [lower-alpha 2]
12 Aug	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	50,000	Lee Trevino (n/a)
27 Aug	Carroll's Irish Open	Ireland	50,000	Ken Brown (1)
3 Sep	Swiss Open	Switzerland	50,000	Seve Ballesteros (8)
17 Sep	Tournament Players Championship	England	40,000	Brian Waites (1)
7 Oct	Dunlop Masters	Wales	40,000	Tommy Horton (4)
22 Oct	European Open Championship	England	105,000	Bobby Wadkins (n/a)	New tournament

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
24 Jun	Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball	England	20,000	Eamonn Darcy and Christy O'Connor Jnr	Team event
10 Sep	Donald Swaelens Memorial Tournament	Belgium	n/a	Nick Faldo	Limited-field event
23 Sep	Hennessy Cognac Cup	France	n/a	Team GB&I	Team event
15 Oct	Cacharel World Under-25 Championship	France	n/a	Jim Nelford
15 Oct	Colgate World Match Play Championship	England	130,000	Isao Aoki	Limited-field event
22 Oct	Trophée Lancôme	France	50,000	Lee Trevino	Limited-field event
3 Dec	World Cup	United States	n/a	John Mahaffey and Andy North	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy			John Mahaffey

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Position	Player	Points	Prize money (£)
1	Seve Ballesteros	47,178	54,348
2	Dale Hayes	30,205	43,891
3	Nick Faldo	28,496	37,912
4	Ken Brown	24,929	29,843
5	Howard Clark	24,474	32,739
6	Neil Coles	23,151	30,348
7	Mark James	19,020	27,861
8	Brian Barnes	18,105	23,386
9	Bernard Gallacher	17,715	21,812
10	Tommy Horton	16,265	18,007

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sandy Lyle	[9]

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. Jacobs, Raymond (20 December 1977). "Our golf scene goes European". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. p. 19. Retrieved 12 June 2020– via Google News Archive.
3. Foulger, Neville (29 December 1977). "Faldo carries British hopes against hefty continental challenge". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, United Kingdom. p. 34. Retrieved 12 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Golf pros banned from tourney". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, United Kingdom. 28 April 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 12 June 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "1978 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
6. Simms, George (1979). World of Golf 1979. Macdonald and Jane's. pp. 87–133. ISBN   0354090690.
7. "Europa-touren-78" [European Tour-78]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 1. January 1979. p. 35. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
8. "Ballesteros again" . The Guardian. 3 November 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 16 June 2020– via Newspapers.com.
9. Solomons, David (7 October 1978). "Ace inspires Sandy in Masters" . Evening Post. Bristol, United Kingdom. p. 2. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Official website