1991 European Tour

1991 European Tour season

Duration	7 February 1991 (1991-02-07) – 27 October 1991 (1991-10-27)
Number of official events	34 [lower-alpha 1]
Most wins	Ian Woosnam (3)
Order of Merit	Seve Ballesteros
Golfer of the Year	Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Per-Ulrik Johansson
← 1990 1992 →

The 1991 European Tour, titled as the 1991 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, that was announced in May 1987. ^[1]

Changes for 1991

There were several changes from the previous season, with the return of both the Catalan Open and the Jersey Open; the addition of the Girona Open; the loss of the Tenerife Open; and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the PLM Open were merged to create the Scandinavian Masters. ^[2]

After provisionally being scheduled for 14–17 October, the Portuguese Open was moved to 21–24 March, taking the venue and dates of the Atlantic Open, which was lost from the calendar. ^[3] Also before the season started, three more tournaments were removed from the schedule; the Dubai Desert Classic was cancelled due to the Gulf War, the El Bosque Open was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship, and the AGF Open was cancelled as sponsors sought to replace the event's promotion company. ^[4] These changes resulted in a reduction to 34 counting tournaments for the Order of Merit.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1991 season. ^[5]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (£)	Winner [lower-alpha 2]	OWGR points	Notes
10 Feb	Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	–	Cancelled	–
17 Feb	El Bosque Open	Spain	–	Cancelled	–
24 Feb	Girona Open	Spain	250,000	Steven Richardson (1)	24	New tournament
3 Mar	Fujitsu Mediterranean Open	France	400,000	Ian Woosnam (17)	38
10 Mar	Open de Baleares	Spain	275,000	Gavan Levenson (2)	30
17 Mar	Open Catalonia	Spain	300,000	José María Olazábal (10)	32
24 Mar	Vinho Verde Atlantic Open	Portugal	–	Cancelled	–
24 Mar	Portuguese Open	Portugal	275,000	Steven Richardson (2)	16
31 Mar	Volvo Open di Firenze	Italy	200,000	Anders Forsbrand (2)	16
7 Apr	AGF Open	France	–	Cancelled	–
14 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$1,350,000	Ian Woosnam (18)	100	Major championship [lower-alpha 3]
14 Apr	Jersey European Airways Open	Jersey	200,000	Sam Torrance (14)	16
21 Apr	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	400,000	Bernhard Langer (24)	52
28 Apr	Madrid Open	Spain	275,000	Andrew Sherborne (1)	20
5 May	Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open	France	350,000	David Feherty (4)	24
12 May	Peugeot Spanish Open	Spain	350,000	Eduardo Romero (3)	48
19 May	Lancia Martini Italian Open	Italy	325,000	Craig Parry (3)	42
27 May	Volvo PGA Championship	England	500,000	Seve Ballesteros (44)	64	Flagship event
2 Jun	Dunhill British Masters	England	450,000	Seve Ballesteros (45)	42
9 Jun	Murphy's Cup	England	350,000	Tony Johnstone (3)	34
16 Jun	Renault Belgian Open	Belgium	250,000	Per-Ulrik Johansson (1)	16
16 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$1,300,000	Payne Stewart (n/a)	100	Major championship [lower-alpha 3]
23 Jun	Carroll's Irish Open	Ireland	375,000	Nick Faldo (22)	48
30 Jun	Peugeot Open de France	France	400,000	Eduardo Romero (4)	42
6 Jul	Torras Monte Carlo Open	France	400,000	Ian Woosnam (19)	44
13 Jul	Bell's Scottish Open	Scotland	500,000	Craig Parry (4)	56
21 Jul	The Open Championship	England	900,000	Ian Baker-Finch (2)	100	Major championship
28 Jul	Heineken Dutch Open	Netherlands	500,000	Payne Stewart (n/a)	44
4 Aug	Scandinavian Masters	Sweden	600,000	Colin Montgomerie (2)	48	New tournament
11 Aug	European Pro-Celebrity	England	250,000	Paul Broadhurst (2)	16	Pro-Am
11 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$1,350,000	John Daly (1)	100	Major championship [lower-alpha 3]
18 Aug	NM English Open	England	450,000	David Gilford (1)	30
25 Aug	Volvo German Open	Germany	525,000	Mark McNulty (11)	30
1 Sep	GA European Open	England	500,000	Mike Harwood (5)	52
8 Sep	Canon European Masters Swiss Open	Switzerland	450,000	Jeff Hawkes (1)	36
15 Sep	Trophée Lancôme	France	450,000	Frank Nobilo (2)	56	Limited-field event
22 Sep	Epson Grand Prix of Europe	Wales	450,000	José María Olazábal (11)	38	Limited-field event
29 Sep	Mitsubishi Austrian Open	Austria	250,000	Mark Davis (1)	16
6 Oct	Mercedes German Masters	Germany	500,000	Bernhard Langer (25)	50
13 Oct	BMW International Open	Germany	400,000	Sandy Lyle (16)	38
27 Oct	Volvo Masters	Spain	600,000	Rodger Davis (6)	52	Tour Championship

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)	OWGR points	Notes
17 Sep	Equity & Law Challenge	England	150,000	Brian Marchbank	n/a
29 Sep	Ryder Cup	United States	n/a	Team USA	n/a	Team event
13 Oct	Dunhill Cup	Scotland	US$1,700,000	Team Sweden	n/a	Team event
20 Oct	Toyota World Match Play Championship	England	500,000	Seve Ballesteros	48	Limited-field event
3 Nov	World Cup	Italy	US$1,100,000	Anders Forsbrand and Per-Ulrik Johansson	n/a	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy			Ian Woosnam	n/a
10 Nov	Benson & Hedges Trophy	Spain	200,000	Helen Alfredsson and Anders Forsbrand	n/a	Team event
10 Nov	Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship	Australia	US$1,150,000	Team Europe	n/a	Team event
22 Dec	Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship	Jamaica	US$2,500,000	Fred Couples	64	Limited-field event

Order of Merit

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. ^{[6] [7]}

Position	Player	Prize money (£)
1	Seve Ballesteros	545,353
2	Steven Richardson	393,155
3	Bernhard Langer	372,703
4	Colin Montgomerie	343,575
5	Craig Parry	328,116
6	Rodger Davis	317,441
7	José María Olazábal	302,270
8	Ian Woosnam	257,433
9	David Gilford	249,240
10	Nick Faldo	245,892

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Seve Ballesteros	[8]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Per-Ulrik Johansson	[9]

See also

• 1991 Challenge Tour

Notes

1. A further four tournaments were scheduled but were cancelled.
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. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

1. White, Graeme (26 May 1987). "Volvo boost for Euro golf" . Black Country Evening Mail. West Bromwich, United Kingdom. p. 33. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.
2. Platts, Mitchell (13 October 1990). "Tour offers £20m pickings". The Times. p. 30. Retrieved 25 April 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
3. "European Tour itinerary". The Observer. London, United Kingdom. 24 February 1991. p. 46. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 16 January 1991. p. 16. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2020– via Newspapers.com.
5. "1991 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
6. "Final Scores from Valderrama". The Times. 28 October 1991. p. 40. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
7. Williams, Michael (29 October 1991). "High returns for mediocrity may lead players to take soft option" . The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 17. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.
8. Whaley, David (11 December 1991). "Seve putts on the Ritz in Europe" . Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. p. 32. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Top rookie" . Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, United Kingdom. 27 November 1991. p. 46. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2023– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Official website