1974 European Tour
The 1974 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) tournament circuit. It is officially recognised as the third season of the PGA European Tour.
| Duration | 10 April 1974 – 26 October 1974 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 21[lower-alpha 1] |
| Most wins | 3: Maurice Bembridge Peter Oosterhuis |
| Order of Merit | Peter Oosterhuis |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Carl Mason |
← 1973 1975 → | |
Historically, the PGA's Order of Merit only included tournaments in Great Britain and Ireland, but in 1970 events in continental Europe were included for the first time. The circuit and organisation evolved further over the following years, adopting the name PGA European Golf Tour in 1979.[1]
The Order of Merit was won by England's Peter Oosterhuis.
Changes for 1974
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Double Diamond Strokeplay, the El Paraiso Open and the non-counting Ibergolf Trophy to conclude the season;[2] and the loss of the Scottish Open.[3] The John Player Classic was scheduled for late September, but ultimately cancelled due to a clash of dates with the PGA Tour's Kaiser International Open Invitational.[4]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1974 season. The season was made up of 21 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting tournaments that later became known as "Approved Special Events". The schedule included the major national opens around Europe, with other tournaments mostly held in England, Scotland and Wales.[2]
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 May | Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball | England | 12,000 | Clive Clark and Peter Butler |
Team event |
| 15 Jun | Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship | England | 10,000 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Dale Hayes |
|
| 8 Aug | Lord Derby's Young Professionals' Tournament | England | 5,000 | Richard Jewell |
|
| 24 Aug | Double Diamond International | Scotland | n/a | Team England |
Team event |
| 12 Oct | Piccadilly World Match Play Championship | England | 30,000 |  Hale Irwin |
|
| 3 Nov | Sotogrande Match | Spain | n/a |   Team GB&I |
New tournament Team event |
| 10 Nov | European Ibergolf Trophy | Spain | 14,000 | Gary Player |
New tournament |
| 24 Nov | World Cup | Venezuela | US$2,000 | Bobby Cole and Dale Hayes |
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | US$1,000 | Bobby Cole |
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.[5]
| Position | Player | Points | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Oosterhuis | 2,964.99 | 32,127 |
| 2 | Dale Hayes | 2,378.83 | 18,396 |
| 3 |  Bernard Gallacher | 2,148.40 | 18,515 |
| 4 | Brian Barnes | 2,110.50 | 14,380 |
| 5 | Neil Coles | 2,079.85 | 13,961 |
| 6 |  Vicente Fernández | 2,061.16 | 7,819 |
| 7 | Tony Jacklin | 2,032.50 | 19,547 |
| 8 |  Brian Huggett | 2,031.93 | 12,373 |
| 9 | Peter Townsend | 1,979.62 | 15,828 |
| 10 | Tommy Horton | 1,902.36 | 11,343 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Carl Mason |
Notes
- A further one tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- 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.
- Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
References
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
- Jacobs, Raymond (21 December 1973). "Prize money next year will reach record £660,000". Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "No TV—No Scots' open". Glasgow Herald. 23 November 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- Jacobs, Raymond (6 March 1974). "Player Classic is dropped". Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "Runaway win for Peter Oosterhuis". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 5 November 1974. p. 20. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.