2015 European Tour

2015 European Tour season

Duration	4 December 2014 (2014-12-04) – 22 November 2015 (2015-11-22)
Number of official events	48
Most wins	Rory McIlroy (3) Andy Sullivan (3)
Race to Dubai	Rory McIlroy
Golfer of the Year	Rory McIlroy
Players' Player of the Year	Rory McIlroy
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	An Byeong-hun
Graduate of the Year	An Byeong-hun
← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 European Tour was the 44th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2015

There were many changes from the previous season. There were six additions to the schedule, made up of four new tournaments: the True Thailand Classic, the Shenzhen International, the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open; the Hero Indian Open, which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first time; and the return of the European Open, which was last played in 2009. ^[1]

Seven events were lost from the schedule: the Volvo World Match Play Championship and Volvo Golf Champions, as a result of Volvo reducing their sponsorship commitments; ^[2] the Nelson Mandela Championship; the NH Collection Open; The Championship at Laguna National; the Wales Open, as a 15-year deal with Celtic Manor Resort came to an end; ^[3] and the Perth International, which wasn't played in 2015 due to rescheduling from October to February.

In March, the tour confirmed that the British Masters, last held in 2008, was also being revived and added to the schedule. ^[4] Later in the month, the Madeira Islands Open was cancelled due to persistent heavy rain; it was later rescheduled to the end of July, opposite the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play. ^[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2015 season. ^[6]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse	Winner [a]	OWGR points	Other tours [b]	Notes
7 Dec	Nedbank Golf Challenge	South Africa	US$6,500,000	Danny Willett (2)	38	AFR	Limited-field event
14 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	South Africa	€1,500,000	Branden Grace (5)	22	AFR
11 Jan	South African Open Championship	South Africa	R14,000,000	Andy Sullivan (1)	32	AFR [c]
18 Jan	Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship	UAE	US$2,700,000	Gary Stal (1)	50
24 Jan	Commercial Bank Qatar Masters	Qatar	US$2,500,000	Branden Grace (6)	42
1 Feb	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	US$2,650,000	Rory McIlroy (10)	50
8 Feb	Maybank Malaysian Open	Malaysia	US$3,000,000	Anirban Lahiri (1)	38	ASA
15 Feb	True Thailand Classic	Thailand	US$2,000,000	Andrew Dodt (2)	28	ASA	New tournament
22 Feb	Hero Indian Open	India	US$1,500,000	Anirban Lahiri (2)	19	ASA	New to European Tour
1 Mar	Joburg Open	South Africa	€1,300,000	Andy Sullivan (2)	19	AFR
8 Mar	Africa Open	South Africa	R14,500,000	Trevor Fisher Jnr (1)	19	AFR
8 Mar	WGC-Cadillac Championship	United States	US$9,250,000	Dustin Johnson (n/a)	76		World Golf Championship
15 Mar	Tshwane Open	South Africa	R18,500,000	George Coetzee (2)	19	AFR
29 Mar	Trophée Hassan II	Morocco	€1,500,000	Richie Ramsay (3)	24
12 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$10,000,000	Jordan Spieth (n/a)	100		Major championship
19 Apr	Shenzhen International	China	US$2,500,000	Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2)	24		New tournament
26 Apr	Volvo China Open	China	CN¥20,000,000	Wu Ashun (1)	26	ONE
3 May	WGC-Cadillac Match Play	United States	US$9,250,000	Rory McIlroy (11)	76		World Golf Championship
10 May	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	€1,000,000	George Coetzee (3)	17	AFR, ASA	New tournament
17 May	Open de España	Spain	€1,500,000	James Morrison (2)	26
24 May	BMW PGA Championship	England	€5,000,000	An Byeong-hun (1)	64		Flagship event
31 May	Dubai Duty Free Irish Open	Northern Ireland	€2,500,000	Søren Kjeldsen (4)	48
7 Jun	Nordea Masters	Sweden	€1,500,000	Alex Norén (4)	26
14 Jun	Lyoness Open	Austria	€1,500,000	Chris Wood (2)	24
21 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$9,000,000	Jordan Spieth (n/a)	100		Major championship
28 Jun	BMW International Open	Germany	€2,000,000	Pablo Larrazábal (4)	32
5 Jul	Alstom Open de France	France	€3,000,000	Bernd Wiesberger (3)	36
12 Jul	Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open	Scotland	£3,250,000	Rickie Fowler (n/a)	50
20 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	£6,300,000	Zach Johnson (n/a)	100		Major championship
26 Jul	Omega European Masters	Switzerland	€2,700,000	Danny Willett (3)	32	ASA
2 Aug	Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play	Scotland	€1,000,000	Kiradech Aphibarnrat (3)	24		New tournament Limited-field event
2 Aug [d] 22 Mar	Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI	Portugal	€600,000	Roope Kakko (1)	18	CHA
9 Aug	WGC-Bridgestone Invitational	United States	US$9,250,000	Shane Lowry (3)	74		World Golf Championship
16 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$10,000,000	Jason Day (n/a)	100		Major championship
23 Aug	Made in Denmark	Denmark	€1,500,000	David Horsey (4)	24
30 Aug	D+D Real Czech Masters	Czech Republic	€1,000,000	Thomas Pieters (1)	24
6 Sep	M2M Russian Open	Russia	€1,000,000	Lee Slattery (2)	24
13 Sep	KLM Open	Netherlands	€1,800,000	Thomas Pieters (2)	24
20 Sep	Open d'Italia	Italy	€1,500,000	Rikard Karlberg (1)	24
27 Sep	Porsche European Open	Germany	€2,000,000	Thongchai Jaidee (7)	30
4 Oct	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	Scotland	US$5,000,000	Thorbjørn Olesen (3)	44		Pro-Am
11 Oct	British Masters	England	£3,000,000	Matt Fitzpatrick (1)	36
18 Oct	Portugal Masters	Portugal	€2,000,000	Andy Sullivan (3)	24
25 Oct	UBS Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	US$2,000,000	Justin Rose (8)	34	ASA
1 Nov	Turkish Airlines Open	Turkey	US$7,000,000	Victor Dubuisson (2)	44		Race to Dubai finals series
8 Nov	WGC-HSBC Champions	China	US$8,500,000	Russell Knox (1)	66		World Golf Championship Race to Dubai finals series
15 Nov	BMW Masters	China	US$7,000,000	Kristoffer Broberg (1)	50		Race to Dubai finals series
22 Nov	DP World Tour Championship, Dubai	UAE	US$8,000,000	Rory McIlroy (12)	52		Race to Dubai finals series

Location of tournaments

& class=notpageimage| Location of official tournaments of the 2015 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Flagship event Final Series event Regular event

class=notpageimage| Location of official tournaments of the 2015 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Final Series event Regular event class=notpageimage| South Africa class=notpageimage| United Arab Emirates

Race to Dubai

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Pos.	Player		Majors					WGCs					Flagship event and R2D finals series [e]					Top 10s in other ET events									Tmts		Points and money [f]
			Mas	USO	Opn	PGA		WGC Cad	WGC MP	WGC Inv	WGC Cha		BMW PGA	Tur	BMW Mas	DPW TC		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8				Total points	Bon. ($)	FS bonus ($)
1	McIlroy		4th	T9	•	•		T9	1st	•	T11		CUT	T6	•	1st		2nd	1st								12		4,727,253	1,250,000	625,000
2	Willett		T38	CUT	T6	T54		T12	3rd	T17	T3		T38	T11	T28	T4		1st	T4	T6	1st	T3					23		3,670,310	800,000	200,000
3	Grace		CUT	T4	T20	3rd		54th	T9	T17	T5		T11	•	T22	3rd		1st	1st								18		3,056,948	530,000	132,500
4	Rose		T2	T27	T6	4th		55th	T17	T3	•		T38	•	T7	T22		1st									14		2,827,024	400,000	100,000 [g]
5	Lowry		CUT	T9	CUT	CUT		T17	T34	1st	T68		T6	8th	T56	T48		T2									18		2,729,144	350,000	87,500
6	Oosthuizen		T19	T2	T2	T30		6th	T5	T42	T44		•	•	T37	T38		T7	2nd								12		2,711,457	300,000	45,000
7	An		•	CUT	CUT	CUT		•	•	T57	T19		1st	4th	T3	T4		T5	T7	T8							26		2,417,356	250,000	37,500
8	Sullivan		•	CUT	T30	CUT		•	T34	•	T64		17th	T60	T17	2nd		1st	T4	1st	T6	T6	1st				28		2,263,573	200,000	30,000
9	Wiesberger		T22	CUT	T68	CUT		T31	T34	T25	T17		CUT	T50	T24	T17		T6	3rd	T4	2nd	T2	1st	T4			25		2,163,181	170,000	25,500
10	Jaidee		55th	CUT	T65	CUT		69th	T34	T57	T11		T2	T26	T3	T31		T7	T2	T10	1st						25		2,150,076	150,000	22,500
11	Dubuisson		CUT	CUT	CUT	T18		T62	T52	T50	•		T63	1st	T17	T13		T4	T10								21		2,132,753	140,000	14,000
12	Fitzpatrick		•	•	•	•		•	•	•	T7		•	T26	T13	T4		T5	T8	T3	2nd	3rd	T3	1st	T3		32		2,094,933	130,000	13,000
13	Aphibarnrat		•	•	CUT	T68		•	•	•	T30		T27	3rd	T31	T22		5th	T4	1st	T4	1st	T4	T5			25		2,055,618	120,000	12,000
14	Broberg		•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•		CUT	T50	1st	T17		T10	T6	T10	T2	T8					32		2,003,321	110,000	11,000
15	Kjeldsen		•	•	CUT	CUT		•	•	T12	T46		T18	T11	T9	T10		T9	1st	2nd	T2	T9	T9	T2			31		1,996,684	100,000	10,000

  Win

  Top 10

  Made cut

  Missed cut

• Did not play

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Rory McIlroy	[12]
Players' Player of the Year	Rory McIlroy	[13]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	An Byeong-hun	[14]
Graduate of the Year	An Byeong-hun	[14]

See also

• 2014 in golf
• 2015 in golf
• 2015 European Senior Tour

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.
2. AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour; ONE − OneAsia Tour.
3. Sunshine Tour flagship event
4. Rescheduled due to persistent bad weather. ^[5]
5. The WGC-HSBC Champions was also a Race to Dubai finals series event.
6. In addition to tournament prize money, the top 15 point scorers received a share of a $5m bonus pool. Those inside the top 15 who participated in at least 3 of the 4 Final Series events received an additional shared of a $1,365,500 bonus pool. ^{[10] [11]}
7. Having only played two Race to Dubai finals series events, Rose was not eligible for the additional finals series bonus. ^[11]

References

1. "European Tour 2015: New events in Scotland, Germany, Thailand". BBC Sport. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
2. "European Tour: Volvo withdraw sponsorship of two events". Sky Sports. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
3. Corrigan, James (19 September 2014). "Wales Open becomes latest professional tournament to bite the dust after being handed last rites by Celtic Manor" . The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
4. "European Tour: British Masters returns after seven-year absence". BBC Sport. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
5. Lavner, Ryan (24 March 2015). "Canceled Euro Tour event rescheduled for July". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
6. "2015 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
7. "New points system announced for European Tour Race to Dubai in 2015". Sky Sports. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
8. "Golf-Race to Dubai rankings". Reuters. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
9. Gittings, Paul (23 November 2015). "DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy wins to wrap up Race to Dubai". CNN. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
10. "Race to Dubai enhanced by additional bonus pool scheme". European Tour. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
11. "The Race to Dubai 2015". Golf Punk. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2024. This is to allow for the operation of an additional bonus scheme that will be paid out only to those players who participate in 3 out of 4 of the Final Series events...
12. Stafford, Ali (15 December 2015). "Rory McIlroy named European Tour Golfer of the Year for 2015". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
13. "McIlroy gunning for more glory". European Tour. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2023. The Northern Irishman overcame an injury-plagued 2015 season to win his third Harry Vardon Trophy and was then honoured by his peers as he was voted Players' Player of the year for the second season in succession.
14. McGarr, Rob (4 December 2015). "Byeong Hun An is the European Tour Rookie of the Year". Today's Golfer. Retrieved 19 April 2023. Much like American Brooks Koepka last year, An's remarkable rise through The European Tour's developmental system was recognised by a second prestigious title, the Graduate of the Year Award, given to the highest-ranked player in The Race to Dubai to have graduated directly from the Challenge Tour the previous season.

External links

• Official website