1980 European Tour

The 1980 European Tour was the ninth official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.

1980 European Tour season
Duration17 April 1980 (1980-04-17) – 4 October 1980 (1980-10-04)
Number of official events23
Most wins4:
Seve Ballesteros
Official Money List Sandy Lyle
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Paul Hoad
← 1979
1981 →

The Official Money List was won by Scotland's Sandy Lyle.

Changes for 1980

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Newcastle Brown "900" Open, the Merseyside International Open and the Bob Hope British Classic; and the loss of the British PGA Matchplay Championship, the Portuguese Open and the Belgian Open.[1][2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1980 season. The season was made up of 23 tournaments counting for the Official Money List, and some non-counting tournaments later known as "Approved Special Events".

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
13 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$360,000 Seve Ballesteros (11) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
20 Apr Italian Open Italy 32,500 Massimo Mannelli (1)
27 Apr Madrid Open Spain 30,000 Seve Ballesteros (12)
4 May Benson & Hedges Spanish Open Spain 42,500 Eddie Polland (4)
11 May Paco Rabanne Open de France France 37,500 Greg Norman (3)
18 May Martini International England 55,000 Seve Ballesteros (13)
26 May Sun Alliance PGA Championship England 70,000 Nick Faldo (3)
1 Jun Avis Jersey Open Jersey 35,000 José María Cañizares (2)
8 Jun Newcastle Brown "900" Open England 42,000 Des Smyth (2) New tournament
15 Jun U.S. Open United States US$355,000 Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
22 Jun Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open England 35,000 Des Smyth (3)
29 Jun Coral Welsh Classic Wales 35,000 Sandy Lyle (4)
6 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 50,000 Greg Norman (4)
12 Jul Mazda Cars English Classic England 55,000 Manuel Piñero (4)
20 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 200,000 Tom Watson (4) Major championship
27 Jul Dutch Open Netherlands 32,500 Seve Ballesteros (14)
10 Aug Benson & Hedges International Open England 80,000 Graham Marsh (7)
10 Aug PGA Championship United States US$375,000 Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
17 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Ireland 70,000 Mark James (4)
24 Aug Braun German Open West Germany 45,000 Mark McNulty (2)
31 Aug Swiss Open Switzerland 50,000 Nick Price (1)
7 Sep European Open Championship England 105,000 Tom Kite (n/a)
13 Sep Merseyside International Open England 15,000 Ian Mosey (1) New tournament
21 Sep Haig Whisky TPC England 55,000 Bernard Gallacher (6)
28 Sep Bob Hope British Classic England 90,000 José María Cañizares (3) New tournament
4 Oct Dunlop Masters Wales 60,000 Bernhard Langer (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
14 Sep Hennessy Cognac Cup England n/a Team GB&I Team event
12 Oct Suntory World Match Play Championship England 100,000 Greg Norman 12-player field
19 Oct Trophée Lancôme France 45,000 Lee Trevino
26 Oct Cacharel World Under-25 Championship France n/a Jack Renner
14 Dec World Cup Colombia n/a Dan Halldorson and
Jim Nelford		 Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy Sandy Lyle

Official Money List

In 1980, the PGA European Tour's money list was retitled as the "Official Money List" having previously been known as the "Order of Merit".[3] 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 Sandy Lyle66,060
2 Greg Norman74,829
3 Seve Ballesteros52,090
4 Nick Faldo46,054
5 Brian Barnes38,598
6 Mark James33,907
7 José María Cañizares35,534
8 Ken Brown33,220
9 Bernhard Langer32,395
10 Des Smyth31,521

Awards
AwardWinner
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Paul Hoad

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. Plumridge, Christopher (19 December 1979). "Television feat on 1980 tour". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Now Euro stars chase record £1.8m in circuit cash bonanza". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, England. 20 December 1979. p. 33. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via British Newspapers Archive.
  3. "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
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