1976 European Tour

The 1976 European Tour was the fifth official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.

The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1976 European Tour schedule which was made up of 22 tournaments, which included the major national opens around Europe. The other tournaments were mostly held in England and Scotland. There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Greater Manchester Open, the Uniroyal International and the Lancome Trophy, and the Benson & Hedges Festival being retitled as the Benson and Hedges International Open.

Dates Tournament Host country Winner Notes
8–11 Apr Masters Tournament* United States United States Raymond Floyd (n/a)
14–17 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal Spain Salvador Balbuena (1)
21–24 Apr Spanish Open Spain Northern Ireland Eddie Polland (3)
28 Apr – 1 May Madrid Open Spain Spain Francisco Abreu (2)
6–9 May French Open France South Africa Vincent Tshabalala (1)
12–15 May Piccadilly Medal England Scotland Sam Torrance (1)
28–31 May Penfold PGA Championship England England Neil Coles (5)
4–7 Jun Kerrygold International Classic Republic of Ireland England Tony Jacklin (5)
9–12 Jun Martini International England Scotland Sam Torrance (2)
17–20 Jun U.S. Open* United States United States Jerry Pate (n/a)
17–20 Jun Greater Manchester Open England Republic of Ireland John O'Leary (1) New tournament
23–26 Jun Uniroyal International England England Tommy Horton (3) New tournament
7–10 Jul The Open Championship Scotland United States Johnny Miller (n/a)
15–18 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden South Africa Hugh Baiocchi (3)
22–25 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland Spain Manuel Piñero (2)
5–8 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands Spain Seve Ballesteros (1)
12–15 Aug PGA Championship* United States United States Dave Stockton (n/a)
12–15 Aug German Open West Germany South Africa Simon Hobday (1)
17–18 Aug Double Diamond Individual Championship Scotland New Zealand Simon Owen (2)
26–29 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Republic of Ireland United States Ben Crenshaw (n/a)
2–5 Sep Sun Alliance Match Play Championship England Scotland Brian Barnes (4)
22–25 Sep Benson and Hedges International Open England Australia Graham Marsh (4)
29 Sep – 2 Oct Dunlop Masters Wales Italy Baldovino Dassù (1)
7–9 Oct Piccadilly World Match Play England Australia David Graham (n/a) Unofficial event
14–17 Oct Lancome Trophy France Spain Seve Ballesteros (n/a) New tournament
Unofficial money
21–24 Oct Italian Open Italy Italy Baldovino Dassù (2)

*The three majors played in the United States were not official money events, but wins in them were retroactively made official.

Order of Merit

The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was based on a points system, which meant that some players could finish lower than others despite accumulating more prize money.

PositionPlayerCountryPrize money (£)
1Seve Ballesteros Spain39,504
2Eamonn Darcy Ireland25,027
3Sam Torrance Scotland20,917
4Manuel Piñero Spain19,946
5Tommy Horton England22,781
6Neil Coles England20,543
7Martin Foster England17,436
8Brian Barnes Scotland23,350
9Baldovino Dassù Italy13,405
10Simon Hobday South Africa15,196

See also

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