Gary James Player is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine major championships on the Champions Tour. At the age of 29, Player won the 1965 U.S. Open and became the only non-American to win all four majors in a career, known as the career Grand Slam. At the time, he was the youngest player to do this, though Jack Nicklaus (26) and Tiger Woods (24) subsequently broke this record. Player became only the third golfer in history to win the Career Grand Slam, following Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen, and only Nicklaus and Woods have performed the feat since. He won over 160 professional tournaments on six continents over seven decades and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour; the second tier of men's professional golf in Europe. The tour's headquarters are at the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. The European Tour was established by the British-based Professional Golfers' Association through the 1970s, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984.
The Challenge Tour, also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and similarly with the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe.
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal structure which enables it to focus on maximising returns to its members through prize money, rather than on making profits for investors. The tour is run by a board of directors and a Players' Council. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. The tour operates tournaments across five continents.
The South African Open is one of the oldest national open golf championships in the world, having first been played in 1903, and is one of the principal tournaments on the Southern-Africa-based Sunshine Tour. Since 1997 it has also been co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 2021, when it was titled as the Cazoo Classic.
The Tunisian Open was a men's professional golf tournament which was part of the European Tour's official schedule from 1982 to 1985. It was the European Tour's first venture outside Europe. The Moroccan Open was also on the Tour's schedule for a time, but since 2001 the tour has departed from North Africa to focus its international expansion on the established golf markets of Australasia and South Africa and the rapidly emerging Asian market. In 1985 the prize fund was £70,000, which was the third smallest in a European Tour official money event that season. In 2015 and 2016, it featured on the Alps Tour's schedule.
The Cannes Open was a men's professional golf tournament that was played annually from 1979 to 1998. From 1984 it was an event on the European Tour, and returned to the schedule as a one-off event in 2001 to replace the Estoril Open, which was cancelled by organisers due to security concerns following the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
The El Bosque Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was held just once, in 1990, when it replaced the Jersey Open on the tour schedule. Its renewal in 1991 was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship.
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament was originally staged as an invitational pro-am and attended by only a handful of top professionals. The winner receives a gold dagger inlaid with jewels.
The Kenya Open, currently titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967.
The 1987 European Tour, titled as the 1987 PGA European Tour, was the 16th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The 1988 European Tour, titled as the 1988 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The 1995 European Tour, titled as the 1995 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 24th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The 1996 European Tour, titled as the 1996 PGA European Tour, was the 25th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The 1998 European Tour, titled as the 1998 PGA European Tour, was the 27th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The Barcelona Open was a professional golf tournament that was held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded as the Sanyo Open in 1981, it was an event on the European Tour from 1982 until 1988, after which it was replaced on the tour schedule by the Catalan Open. For the first two editions it was played at Club de Golf Sant Cugat, and thereafter at Real Club de Golf El Prat.
The Asia Golf Circuit was the principal men's professional golf tour in Southeast Asia from the early 1960s through to the mid-late 1990s. The tour was founded in 1961 as the Far East Circuit. The first series of five tournaments was held in 1962 and consisted of the national open championships of the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, plus a final tournament held in Japan. The tour gradually grew over the subsequent years, eventually becoming a regular ten tournament circuit in 1974.
The Safari Circuit, or Safari Tour, was a small professional golf tour based in West and East Africa that ran from the 1970s through into the 1990s. From 1977, the tour was organised by the PGA European Tour and from 1991 the tournaments were included on the second-tier Challenge Tour schedule.
Ian Poulter 
