1975 European Tour
The 1975 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tournament Players’ Section circuit. It is officially recognised as the fourth season of the PGA European Tour.
| Duration | 8 April 1975 – 19 October 1975 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 19 |
| Most wins | 2:[lower-alpha 1] George Burns.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Bob Shearer |
| Order of Merit | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Dale Hayes |
← 1974 1976 → | |
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 South Africa's Dale Hayes.
Changes for 1975
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Carroll's Irish Open, which replaced the Carroll's International, and the Kerrygold International Classic; and the loss of the Penfold Tournament, the W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament and the El Paraiso Open. Following the withdrawal of sponsors, Lord Derby's Young Professionals' Tournament and the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship were also lost from the schedule, the PGA ultimately decided to sponsor an under-25's event themselves.[2]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1975 season. The season was made up of 19 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 the other tournaments mostly held in England and Scotland.[3][4]
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May | Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball | England | 12,000 | Jack Newton and John O'Leary |
Team event |
| 20 Sep | T.P.D. Young Professionals' Championship | England | 5,000 | Dale Hayes |
|
| 21 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a | Team USA |
Two 12-man teams |
| 27 Sep | Double Diamond International | Scotland | n/a | The Americas | Team event |
| 11 Oct | Piccadilly World Match Play Championship | England | 30,000 | Hale Irwin |
8-player field |
| 7 Dec | World Cup | Thailand | US$4,200 | Lou Graham and Johnny Miller |
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | US$2,100 | Johnny Miller |
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.[6]
| Position | Player | Points | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Hayes | 17,487 | 20,507 |
| 2 | Bob Shearer | 13,920 | 16,040 |
| 3 | Eamonn Darcy | 11,988 | 14,845 |
| 4 |  Brian Barnes | 10,491 | 13,492 |
| 5 | Bernard Gallacher | 9,995 | 12,039 |
| 6 | Hugh Baiocchi | 9,063 | 9,631 |
| 7 | Christy O'Connor Jnr | 8,680 | 11,978 |
| 8 | Jack Newton | 8,631 | 16,394 |
| 9 |  Vicente Fernández | 8,263 | 10,108 |
| 10 |  Neil Coles | 8,237 | 11,769 |
Notes
- Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer also won 2 events, but was not a European Tour member.
- 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.
- Ward-Thomas, Pat (25 February 1975). "The big hitters checked". The Guardian. p. 25. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Ward-Thomas, Pat (18 December 1974). "Sun boost to £629,000". The Guardian. p. 23. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jacobs, Raymond (18 December 1974). "Golf prize fund is only slightly down". Glasgow Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- Jacobs, Raymond (16 June 1975). "Two stroke it rich in Martini". Glasgow Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "Hayes tops merit table". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 11 November 1975. p. 20. Retrieved 14 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.