1985 European Tour
| Duration | 18 April 1985 – 2 November 1985 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26 |
| Most wins | 4: Seve Ballesteros |
| Order of Merit |  Sandy Lyle |
| Golfer of the Year |  Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Paul Thomas |
← 1984 1986 → | |
The 1985 European Tour was the 14th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.
The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[1][2]
The Order of Merit was won by Scotland's Sandy Lyle, who won twice during the season including his first major, The Open Championship. Spain's Seve Ballesteros finished third on the money list despite recording four official tournament wins, including the French and Spanish Opens.
Changes for 1985
There were several changes from the previous season, with the GSI L'Equipe Open replacing the Timex Open; the return of the British Masters[3] and the Bob Hope Classic, which was rebranded as the Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity; and the loss of the Tournament Players Championship and the Celtic International.
In addition, the Dunhill Cup, a new team event devised by Mark McCormack and held over the Old Course at St Andrews, was added to the schedule but did not count towards the Order of Merit; with a prize fund of US$1.2 million it was the richest tournament in the world, surpassing the Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.[4]
Rule changes
In 1985, the European Tour became "All-Exempt", meaning that for the first time tournaments did not have their own pre-qualifying rounds.[5][6] The final two rounds of all major tournaments were played as two-balls, having previously been three-balls.[7]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1985 season.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Sep | Ryder Cup | England | n/a |  Team Europe
|
Team event |
| 29 Sep | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 180,000 | Seve Ballesteros
|
Limited-field event |
| 20 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,200,000 |  Team Australia
|
New tournament Team event |
| 24 Nov | World Cup | United States | US$743,000 |  Dave Barr and Dan Halldorson
|
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy |  Howard Clark
|
Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle |
162,553 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer |
115,716 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros |
103,042 |
| 4 | Ian Woosnam |
82,235 |
| 5 | Sam Torrance |
79,567 |
| 6 | Howard Clark |
79,386 |
| 7 | Manuel Piñero |
71,116 |
| 8 | José María Cañizares |
65,633 |
| 9 | Gordon Brand Jnr |
65,571 |
| 10 | Paul Way |
63,097 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Bernhard Langer
|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Thomas
|
See also
Notes
- ^ The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names show the number of official career wins they had on the European Tour up to and including that event. Totals are only shown for members of the European Tour 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. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
References
- ^ Platts, Mitchell (22 November 1984). "A news world opens for European tour". The Times. London, England. p. 28. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ Davies, David (22 November 1984). "Pro tour offers £4m". The Guardian. London, England. p. 27. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Davies, David (31 July 1984). "Masters comes to Woburn". The Guardian. London, England. p. 23. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Platts, Mitchell; Ballantine, John (22 January 1985). "St Andrews to be host of first £1 million event". The Times. London, England. p. 25. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Jacobs, Raymond (26 July 1984). "Satellite tour takes off". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 15. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, England. 12 April 1985. p. 20. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.