1997 European Tour
The 1997 European Tour was the 26th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie for the fifth year in succession.
Schedule
The table below shows the 1997 European Tour schedule which was made up of 34 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events". There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the South African Open, which replaced the FNB Players Championship, and the loss of the Catalan Open, the Austrian Open and the Scottish Open, which was effectively superseded by the Loch Lomond World Invitational.Dates | Tournament | Host country | Winner | OWGR points | Notes |
23–26 Jan | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | Ernie Els | 44 | Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia |
30 Jan – 2 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | Miguel Ángel Martín | 40 | Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia |
6–9 Feb | South African Open | South Africa | Vijay Singh | 34 | New tournament; co-sanctioned with the Southern Africa Tour |
13–16 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | South Africa | Nick Price | 26 | Co-sanctioned with the Southern Africa Tour |
20–23 Feb | Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship | South Africa | Nick Price | 24 | Co-sanctioned with the Southern Africa Tour |
27 Feb – 2 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | United Arab Emirates | Richard Green | 40 | |
6–9 Mar | Moroccan Open | Morocco | Clinton Whitelaw | 20 | |
13–16 Mar | Portuguese Open | Portugal | Michael Jonzon | 20 | |
20–23 Mar | Turespaña Masters Open de Canarias | Spain | José María Olazábal | 20 | |
27–30 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | Peter Mitchell | 20 | |
10–13 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | Tiger Woods | 100 | Major championship; non-tour event |
17–20 Apr | Europe 1 Cannes Open | France | Stuart Cage | 20 | |
24–27 Apr | Peugeot Open de España | Spain | Mark James | 38 | |
1–4 May | Conte of Florence Italian Open | Italy | Bernhard Langer | 28 | |
8–11 May | Benson and Hedges International Open | England | Bernhard Langer | 36 | |
15–18 May | Alamo English Open | England | Per-Ulrik Johansson | 34 | |
23–26 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | Ian Woosnam | 64 | Flagship event |
29 May – 1 Jun | Deutsche Bank Open TPC of Europe | Germany | Ross McFarlane | 26 | |
5–8 Jun | Compaq European Grand Prix | England | Colin Montgomerie | 26 | |
12–15 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | Ernie Els | 100 | Major championship; non-tour event |
19–22 Jun | Volvo German Open | Germany | Ignacio Garrido | 24 | |
26–29 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | Retief Goosen | 34 | |
3–6 Jul | Murphy's Irish Open | Republic of Ireland | Colin Montgomerie | 38 | |
9–12 Jul | Gulfstream Loch Lomond World Invitational | Scotland | Tom Lehman | 50 | |
17–20 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | Justin Leonard | 100 | Major championship |
24–27 Jul | Sun Microsystems Dutch Open | Netherlands | Sven Strüver | 20 | |
31 Jul – 3 Aug | Volvo Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | Joakim Haeggman | 34 | |
7–10 Aug | Chemapol Trophy Czech Open | Czech Republic | Bernhard Langer | 24 | |
14–17 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | Davis Love III | 100 | Major championship; non-tour event |
21–24 Aug | Smurfit European Open | Republic of Ireland | Per-Ulrik Johansson | 32 | |
28–31 Aug | BMW International Open | Germany | Robert Karlsson | 36 | |
4–7 Sep | Canon European Masters | Switzerland | Costantino Rocca | 32 | |
11–14 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | Mark O'Meara | 42 | |
18–21 Sep | One 2 One British Masters | England | Greg Turner | 30 | |
26–28 Sep | Ryder Cup | Spain | Europe | n/a | Approved special event; team event |
2–5 Oct | Linde German Masters | Germany | Bernhard Langer | 38 | |
9–12 Oct | Toyota World Match Play Championship | England | Vijay Singh | 42 | Approved special event |
9–12 Oct | Open Novotel Perrier | France | Anders Forsbrand & Michael Jonzon | n/a | Approved special event; pairs event |
16–19 Oct | Alfred Dunhill Cup | Scotland | South Africa | n/a | Approved special event; team event |
23–26 Oct | Oki Pro-Am | Spain | Paul McGinley | 20 | |
30 Oct – 2 Nov | Volvo Masters | Spain | Lee Westwood | 28 | |
6–9 Nov | Sarazen World Open | United States | Mark Calcavecchia | 40 | Approved special event |
20–23 Nov | World Cup of Golf | United States | Ireland | n/a | Approved special event; team event |
20–23 Nov | World Cup of Golf International Trophy | United States | Colin Montgomerie | n/a | Approved special event; individual prize |
3–4 Jan | Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf | United States | Colin Montgomerie | 58 | Approved special event |
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.Position | Player | Country | Prize money |
1 | Colin Montgomerie | 798,947 | |
2 | Bernhard Langer | 692,398 | |
3 | Lee Westwood | 588,718 | |
4 | Darren Clarke | 537,409 | |
5 | Ian Woosnam | 503,562 | |
6 | Ignacio Garrido | 411,479 | |
7 | Retief Goosen | 394,597 | |
8 | Pádraig Harrington | 388,982 | |
9 | José María Olazábal | 385,648 | |
10 | Robert Karlsson | 364,542 |