2008 European Tour


The 2008 European Tour was the 37th golf season since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
The Order of Merit was won by Robert Karlsson, the first Swedish golfer to do so. The Golfer of the Year award was given to Pádraig Harrington, who won two major championships during the season and finished second in the Order of Merit. The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Pablo Larrazábal from Spain.

Major tournaments

For a summary of the major tournaments and events of 2008, including the major championships and the World Golf Championships, see 2008 in golf.

Schedule

The 2008 season began in November 2007 and consisted of 50 official money events, a drop of two from the previous year. This included seven major championships and World Golf Championships, which are also sanctioned by the PGA Tour. 27 events took place in Europe, 11 in Asia, six in the United States, four in South Africa, one in Australia and one in New Zealand.
There were four new tournaments, the Indian Masters, the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea, and in Spain the Madrid Masters and the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar. Lost from the tour schedule were the Singapore Masters, the TCL Classic, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the Madrid Open and the Mallorca Classic. the World Match Play Championship was originally scheduled, but was not held; it returned in 2009 with a new sponsor and venue.
DatesTournamentHost countryWinnerOWGR
points		Notes
8–11 NovHSBC ChampionsChina Phil Mickelson 52Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and Sunshine Tour
15–18 NovUBS Hong Kong OpenHong Kong Miguel Ángel Jiménez 36Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
22–25 NovMasterCard MastersAustralia Aaron Baddeley 24Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia
29 Nov – 2 DecMichael Hill New Zealand OpenNew Zealand Richard Finch 20Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia
6–9 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipSouth Africa John Bickerton 22Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour
13–16 DecSouth African Airways OpenSouth Africa James Kingston 32Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour
10–13 JanJoburg OpenSouth Africa Richard Sterne 20Co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour
17–20 JanAbu Dhabi Golf ChampionshipUnited Arab Emirates Martin Kaymer 44
24–27 JanThe Commercialbank Qatar MastersQatar Adam Scott 46
31 Jan – 3 FebDubai Desert ClassicUnited Arab Emirates Tiger Woods 50
7–10 FebEmaar-MGF Indian MastersIndia Shiv Chowrasia 26New tournament; co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
14–17 FebEnjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia OpenIndonesia Felipe Aguilar 20Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
20–24 FebWGC-Accenture Match Play ChampionshipUnited States Tiger Woods 76World Golf Championships
28 Feb – 2 MarJohnnie Walker ClassicIndia Mark Brown 38Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour
6–9 MarMaybank Malaysian OpenMalaysia Arjun Atwal 24Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
13–16 MarBallantine's ChampionshipSouth Korea Graeme McDowell 28New tournament; co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
20–23 MarWGC-CA ChampionshipUnited States Geoff Ogilvy 76World Golf Championships
20–23 MarMadeira Island OpenPortugal Alastair Forsyth 24Alternate event
27–30 MarMAPFRE Open de AndaluciaSpain Thomas Levet 24
3–6 AprEstoril Open de PortugalPortugal Grégory Bourdy 24
10–13 AprMasters TournamentUnited States Trevor Immelman 100Major championship
17–20 AprVolvo China OpenChina Damien McGrane 20Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
24–27 AprBMW Asian OpenChina Darren Clarke 32Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
1–4 MayOpen de EspañaSpain Peter Lawrie 24
8–11 MayItalian OpenItaly Hennie Otto 24
15–18 MayIrish OpenIreland Richard Finch 28
22–25 MayBMW PGA ChampionshipEngland Miguel Ángel Jiménez 64Flagship event
29 May – 1 JunCeltic Manor Wales OpenWales Scott Strange 36
5–8 JunBank Austria GolfOpenAustria Jeev Milkha Singh 24
12–15 JunU.S. OpenUnited States Tiger Woods 100Major championship
12–15 JunSaint-Omer OpenFrance David Dixon 18Alternate event; dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour
19–22 JunBMW International OpenGermany Martin Kaymer 30
26–29 JunOpen de FranceFrance Pablo Larrazábal 38
3–6 JulEuropean OpenEngland Ross Fisher 40
10–13 JulBarclays Scottish OpenScotland Graeme McDowell 50
17–20 JulThe Open ChampionshipEngland Pádraig Harrington 100Major championship
24–27 JulInteco Russian OpenRussia Mikael Lundberg 24
31 Jul – 3 AugWGC-Bridgestone InvitationalUnited States Vijay Singh 74World Golf Championships
7–10 AugPGA ChampionshipUnited States Pádraig Harrington 100Major championship
14–17 AugSAS MastersSweden Peter Hanson 24
21–24 AugKLM OpenNetherlands Darren Clarke 30
28–31 AugJohnnie Walker Championship at GleneaglesScotland Grégory Havret 32
4–7 SepOmega European MastersSwitzerland Jean-François Lucquin 24
11–14 SepMercedes-Benz ChampionshipGermany Robert Karlsson 34
19–21 SepRyder CupUnited Statesn/aApproved special event; team event
25–28 SepQuinn Insurance British MastersEngland Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño 30
2–5 OctAlfred Dunhill Links ChampionshipScotland Robert Karlsson 50
9–12 OctWorld Match Play ChampionshipEnglandCancelled
9–12 OctMadrid MastersSpain Charl Schwartzel 24New tournament
16–19 OctPortugal MastersPortugal Álvaro Quirós 38
23–26 OctCastelló Masters Costa AzaharSpain Sergio García 38New tournament
30 Oct – 2 NovVolvo MastersSpain Søren Kjeldsen 50
27–30 NovOmega Mission Hills World CupChina Swedenn/aApproved special event; team event

Location of tournaments

Order of Merit

In 2008, the European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was calculated in euro, although around half of the events had prize funds which were fixed in other currencies, mostly either British pounds or U.S. dollars. In these instances the amounts were converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament was played. The top 10 golfers in 2008 were:
RankPlayerCountryEventsPrize money
1Robert Karlsson232,732,748
2Pádraig Harrington142,459,109
3Lee Westwood212,424,642
4Miguel Ángel Jiménez262,066,596
5Graeme McDowell281,859,346
6Ross Fisher271,836,530
7Henrik Stenson191,798,617
8Martin Kaymer251,794,500
9Sergio García131,591,917
10Søren Kjeldsen291,440,979

Tiger Woods earned more money in European Tour events in 2008 than any other golfer, but was not a member of the European Tour so was not eligible for the Order of Merit.

Awards

Golfer of the Month

The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award were as follows:
MonthPlayerCountry
JanuaryMartin Kaymer
FebruaryMark Brown
MarchGraeme McDowell
AprilTrevor Immelman
MaySergio García
JunePablo Larrazábal
JulyPádraig Harrington
AugustPádraig Harrington
SeptemberRobert Karlsson
OctoberRobert Karlsson
NovemberRobert Karlsson

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