1977 European Tour

The 1977 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) European Tournament Players’ Division circuit. It is officially recognised as the sixth season of the PGA European Tour.

1977 European Tour season
Duration6 April 1977 (1977-04-06) – 1 October 1977 (1977-10-01)
Number of official events22
Most wins3:
Seve Ballesteros
Order of Merit Seve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Nick Faldo
← 1976
1978 →

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, with the Tournament Players’ Division reaching an agreement to join with their continental counterparts, the Continental Tournament Players' Association, in December 1976 and as a result added the word "European" to their name for the 1977 season.[1][2] The title of the circuit was changed to the PGA European Golf Tour in 1979.[3]

The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.

Changes for 1977

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Callers of Newcastle and the Tournament Players Championship, which replaced the Piccadilly Medal.[2][4] Two events not counting for the Order of Merit, the Phillip Morris Nations Cup and the Sumrie Better-Ball, originally pencilled in for May,[5] were cancelled.[6]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1977 season. The season was made up of 22 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.

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
9 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal 25,000 Manuel Ramos (1)
10 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$225,000 Tom Watson (2) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
16 Apr Spanish Open Spain 30,000 Bernard Gallacher (4)
23 Apr Madrid Open Spain 22,000 Antonio Garrido (2)
1 May Italian Open Italy 25,000 Ángel Gallardo (1)
8 May French Open France 23,500 Seve Ballesteros (2)
14 May Benson & Hedges International Open England 40,000 Antonio Garrido (3)
21 May Sun Alliance Match Play Championship England 20,000 Hugh Baiocchi (4)
28 May Penfold PGA Championship England 50,000 Manuel Piñero (3)
5 Jun Kerrygold International Ireland 15,000 Liam Higgins (1)
11 Jun Martini International England 15,000 Greg Norman (1)
19 Jun Greater Manchester Open England 20,000 Eamonn Darcy (1)
19 Jun U.S. Open United States US$250,000 Hubert Green (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
25 Jun Uniroyal International Championship England 30,000 Seve Ballesteros (3)
9 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 100,000 Tom Watson (3) Major championship
17 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland 35,000 Seve Ballesteros (4)
24 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 45,000 Bob Byman (1)
31 Jul Callers of Newcastle England 25,000 John Fourie (1) New tournament
7 Aug German Open West Germany 30,000 Tienie Britz (1)
14 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands 30,000 Bob Byman (2)
14 Aug PGA Championship United States US$250,000 Lanny Wadkins (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
17 Aug Skol Lager Individual Scotland 20,000 Nick Faldo (1)
28 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 40,000 Hubert Green (n/a)
10 Sep Tournament Players Championship England 40,000 Neil Coles (6) New tournament
1 Oct Dunlop Masters England 40,000 Guy Hunt (1)

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
2 Jul Phillip Morris Nations Cup France – Cancelled Team event
20 Aug Double Diamond International Scotland n/a Team USA Team event
17 Sep Ryder Cup England n/a Team USA Two 12-man teams
8 Oct Colgate World Match Play Championship England 75,000 Graham Marsh 12-player field
16 Oct Trophée Lancôme France 50,000 Graham Marsh
11 Dec World Cup Philippines US$4,200 Seve Ballesteros and
Antonio Garrido		 Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy US$2,100 Gary Player

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.

PositionPlayerPrize money
(£)
1 Seve Ballesteros46,436
2 Hugh Baiocchi32,251
3 Antonio Garrido21,581
4 Manuel Piñero26,569
5 Bob Byman19,452
6 Brian Barnes17,557
7 Peter Dawson17,583
8 Nick Faldo23,978
9 Francisco Abreu13,294
10 Ángel Gallardo14,765

Awards
AwardWinner
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Nick Faldo

See also

Notes
  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, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
  2. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References
  1. Corcoran, Michael (11 May 2010). Duel in the Sun. Simon and Schuster. p. 103. ISBN 9781439141922.
  2. Foulger, Neville (23 December 1976). "Cash boost as top players chase rising pound!". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 29. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  4. Davies, David (21 December 1976). "European golf prizes top £1m". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 10. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Golf". Liverpool Echo. 16 December 1976. p. 22. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "No Sumrie". Reading Evening Post. 20 April 1977. p. 26. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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