1998 European Tour

The 1998 European Tour was the 27th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.[1]

1998 European Tour season
Duration22 January 1998 (1998-01-22) – 22 November 1998 (1998-11-22)
Number of official events38
Most wins4 – Lee Westwood
Order of MeritColin Montgomerie
Golfer of the YearLee Westwood
Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the yearOlivier Edmond
← 1997
1999 →

The Order of Merit was won by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie for the sixth year in succession.[2]

Schedule

The table below shows the 1998 European Tour schedule which was made up of 33 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".[3][4] The schedule also included the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and PGA Championship for the first time, although winnings did not count towards the Order of Merit. There were several other changes from the previous season with the addition of the Qatar Masters, the return of the Belgian Open, and the loss of the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

In March, the Chemapol Trophy Czech Open was cancelled in the wake of severe floods across the country in July 1997;[5] it was later replaced on the schedule by the German Open.[6] In July, the tour announced the cancellation of the Oki Pro-Am.[7]

Dates Tournament Host country Winner[lower-alpha 1] OWGR
points[8]		 Notes
22–25 Jan Johnnie Walker Classic Thailand Tiger Woods (n/a) 40 Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia
29 Jan – 1 Feb Heineken Classic Australia Thomas Bjørn (2) 34 Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia
5–8 Feb South African Open South Africa Ernie Els (6) 30 Co-sanctioned with the Southern Africa Tour
12–15 Feb Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship South Africa Tony Johnstone (5) 36 Co-sanctioned with the Southern Africa Tour
26 Feb – 1 Mar Dubai Desert Classic United Arab Emirates José María Olazábal (18) 42
5–8 Mar Qatar Masters Qatar Andrew Coltart (1) 30 New tournament
12–15 Mar Moroccan Open Morocco Stephen Leaney (1) 20
19–22 Mar Portuguese Open Portugal Peter Mitchell (3) 20
9–12 Apr Masters Tournament United States Mark O'Meara (n/a) 100 Major championship; unofficial money[lower-alpha 1]
16–19 Apr Cannes Open France Thomas Levet (1) 20
23–26 Apr Peugeot Open de España Spain Thomas Bjørn (3) 28
30 Apr – 3 May Italian Open Italy Patrik Sjöland (1) 22
7–10 May Turespaña Masters Open Baleares Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez (3) 20
14–17 May Benson and Hedges International Open England Darren Clarke (3) 36
22–25 May Volvo PGA Championship England Colin Montgomerie (15) 64 Flagship event
29 May – 1 Jun Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe Germany Lee Westwood (3) 42
4–7 Jun National Car Rental English Open England Lee Westwood (4) 34
5–8 Jun Compaq European Grand Prix England Abandoned[lower-alpha 2]
18–21 Jun U.S. Open United States Lee Janzen (n/a) 100 Major championship; unofficial money[lower-alpha 1]
18–21 Jun Madeira Island Open Portugal Mats Lanner (3) 20 Opposite the U.S. Open
25–28 Jun Peugeot Open de France France Sam Torrance (21) 22
2–5 Jul Murphy's Irish Open Republic of Ireland David Carter (1) 38
8–11 Jul The Standard Life Loch Lomond Scotland Lee Westwood (5) 42
16–19 Jul The Open Championship England Mark O'Meara (n/a) 100 Major championship
23–26 Jul TNT Dutch Open Netherlands Stephen Leaney (2) 36
30 Jul – 2 Aug Volvo Scandinavian Masters Sweden Jesper Parnevik (4) 34
6–9 Aug Chemapol Trophy Czech Open Czech Republic Cancelled
6–9 Aug German Open Germany Stephen Allan (1) 20
13–16 Aug PGA Championship United States Vijay Singh (8) 100 Major championship; unofficial money[lower-alpha 1]
20–23 Aug Smurfit European Open Republic of Ireland Mathias Grönberg (2) 38
27–30 Aug BMW International Open Germany Russell Claydon (1) 32
3–6 Sep Canon European Masters Switzerland Sven Strüver (3) 34
10–13 Sep One 2 One British Masters England Colin Montgomerie (16) 34
17–20 Sep Trophée Lancôme France Miguel Ángel Jiménez (4) 44
24–27 Sep Linde German Masters Germany Colin Montgomerie (17) 40
1–4 Oct Belgacom Open Belgium Lee Westwood (6) 22
8–11 Oct Alfred Dunhill Cup Scotland  South Africa n/a Approved special event; team event
15–18 Oct Cisco World Match Play Championship England Mark O'Meara (n/a) 44 Approved special event
15–18 Oct Open Novotel Perrier France Jarmo Sandelin (n/a)
Olle Karlsson (n/a)		 n/a Approved special event; team event;
alternate to World Match Play
22–25 Oct Oki Pro-Am Spain Cancelled
29 Oct – 1 Nov Volvo Masters Spain Darren Clarke (4) 42
5–8 Nov Subaru Sarazen World Open United States Dudley Hart (n/a) 38 Approved special event
19–22 Nov World Cup of Golf New Zealand England n/a Approved special event; team event
World Cup of Golf International Trophy Scott Verplank (n/a) n/a Approved special event; individual prize
  1. 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 and have been retrospectively recognised as official tour wins. Victories in other "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
  2. Tournament abandoned due to persistent bad weather.[9]

Order of Merit

The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.[1][2]

PositionPlayerCountryPrize money (£)
1Colin Montgomerie Scotland993,077
2Darren Clarke Northern Ireland902,867
3Lee Westwood England814,386
4Miguel Ángel Jiménez Spain518,819
5Patrik Sjöland Sweden500,137
6Thomas Bjørn Denmark470,798
7José María Olazábal Spain449,132
8Ernie Els South Africa433,884
9Andrew Coltart Scotland388,816
10Mathias Grönberg Sweden358,779

Awards
AwardWinnerCountry
European Tour Golfer of the YearLee Westwood England
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearOlivier Edmond France

See also

References
  1. "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. Hopkins, John (2 November 1998). "Montgomerie hits his rivals for six". The Times. London, England. p. 26. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  3. "Scoreboard | Golf | 1998 European schedule". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 25 September 1997. p. 45. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Davies, David (21 January 1998). "Faldo Ready for the year of the Tiger". The Guardian. London, England. p. 23. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Czech Open cancelled". The Irish Times. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  6. "In brief | Golf switch". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, Scotland. 20 March 1998. p. 38. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. Smith, Colm (29 July 1998). "KO for the OKI pro-am". Irish Independent. Dublin, Ireland. p. 25. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Events | European Tour | 1998". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  9. Webb, Mel (15 June 1998). "Rain check costs Stewart dear". The Times. London, England. p. 42. Retrieved 3 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
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