1980_European_Tour
1980 European Tour
Golf tour season
The 1980 European Tour, titled as the 1980 PGA European Golf Tour,[1] was the ninth season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 10 April 1980 (1980-04-10) – 4 October 1980 (1980-10-04) |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 23 |
| Most wins |  Seve Ballesteros (4) |
| Official money list |  Sandy Lyle |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Paul Hoad |
← 1979 1981 → | |
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.[2][3]
The tour's money list was retitled as the "Official money list", having previously been known as the "Order of Merit".[1]
The following table lists official events during the 1980 season.[4]
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 |
Limited-field event |
| 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 |
The official money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[5][6]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle | 43,346 |
| 2 | Greg Norman | 43,068 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros | 42,376 |
| 4 | Nick Faldo | 35,523 |
| 5 | Brian Barnes | 32,880 |
| 6 | Mark James | 29,991 |
| 7 | José María Cañizares | 29,840 |
| 8 | Ken Brown | 28,949 |
| 9 |  Bernhard Langer | 26,920 |
| 10 | Des Smyth | 24,618 |
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Hoad | [7] |
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of European Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for European Tour members 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.
- "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- Plumridge, Christopher (19 December 1979). "Television feat on 1980 tour". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 21. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Now Euro stars chase record £1.8m in circuit cash bonanza". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, United Kingdom. 20 December 1979. p. 33. Retrieved 10 June 2020 – via British Newspapers Archive.
- "1980 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- "Europa-touren-80" [European Tour-80]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9. September 1980. p. 21. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- Dobereiner, Peter (6 October 1980). "Record win for Langer". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. p. 17. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Two lead after Moon shot". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 3 October 1980. p. 18. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Paul Hoad, aged 22, the former England amateur international has won Henry Cotton's 1980 "Rookie of the Year" award.