2001 European Tour

2001 European Tour season
Duration16 November 2000 (2000-11-16) – 11 November 2001 (2001-11-11)
Number of official events46
Most winsSouth Africa Retief Goosen (3)[a]
Order of MeritSouth Africa Retief Goosen
Golfer of the YearSouth Africa Retief Goosen
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearEngland Paul Casey
← 2000
2002 →

The 2001 European Tour, titled as the 2001 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 30th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2001

There were several changes from the previous season, with the Dunhill Links Championship replacing the Dunhill Cup,[2] the Open de Madrid replacing the Turespaña Masters, the Standard Life Loch Lomond being rebranded as the revived Scottish Open,[3] the addition the Caltex Singapore Masters, the Argentine Open[4] and the São Paulo Brazil Open; the return of the Estoril Open; and the loss of the Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open and the Belgian Open.

The terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September led to changes on the tour schedule with the WGC-American Express Championship being cancelled and the Ryder Cup matches at The Belfry being postponed until 2002. The Estoril Open was also cancelled in the wake of the attacks, and was replaced on the schedule with a revival of the Cannes Open.[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2001 season.[6]

Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[b] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[c] 		Notes
19 Nov Johnnie Walker Classic Thailand £800,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 24 ANZ, ASA
7 Jan WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Australia US$5,000,000 United States Steve Stricker (n/a) 58 World Golf Championship
21 Jan Alfred Dunhill Championship South Africa £500,000 Australia Adam Scott (1) 18 AFR
28 Jan Mercedes-Benz South African Open South Africa US$1,000,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (16) 32 AFR[d]
4 Feb Heineken Classic Australia A$1,750,000 New Zealand Michael Campbell (4) 20 ANZ
11 Feb Greg Norman Holden International Australia A$2,000,000 Australia Aaron Baddeley (n/a) 22 ANZ
18 Feb Carlsberg Malaysian Open Malaysia US$910,000 Fiji Vijay Singh (10) 18 ASA
25 Feb Caltex Singapore Masters Singapore US$850,000 Fiji Vijay Singh (11) 24 ASA New tournament
4 Mar Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$1,500,000 Denmark Thomas Bjørn (6) 44
11 Mar Qatar Masters Qatar US$750,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (6) 24
18 Mar Madeira Island Open Portugal €550,000 Republic of Ireland Des Smyth (8) 24
25 Mar São Paulo Brazil Open Brazil €750,000 South Africa Darren Fichardt (1) 24
1 Apr Open de Argentina Argentina US$700,000 Argentina Ángel Cabrera (1) 24 ARG New to European Tour
8 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$5,600,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 100 Major championship
15 Apr Moroccan Open Morocco €650,000 England Ian Poulter (2) 24
22 Apr Via Digital Open de España Spain €1,200,000 Sweden Robert Karlsson (4) 24
29 Apr Algarve Open de Portugal Portugal €1,000,000 Wales Phillip Price (2) 24
6 May Novotel Perrier Open de France France €1,300,000 Spain José María Olazábal (21) 24
13 May Benson & Hedges International Open England £1,000,000 Sweden Henrik Stenson (1) 48
20 May Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe Germany €2,700,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 54
28 May Volvo PGA Championship England €3,200,000 Scotland Andrew Oldcorn (3) 64 Flagship event
3 Jun Victor Chandler British Masters England £1,200,000 France Thomas Levet (2) 32
10 Jun Compass Group English Open England £800,000 Australia Peter O'Malley (3) 28
17 Jun U.S. Open United States US$5,000,000 South Africa Retief Goosen (5) 100 Major championship
24 Jun Great North Open England £800,000 Scotland Andrew Coltart (2) 24
1 Jul Murphy's Irish Open Ireland €1,600,000 Scotland Colin Montgomerie (25) 30
8 Jul Smurfit European Open Ireland £2,000,000 Northern Ireland Darren Clarke (8) 46
15 Jul Scottish Open Scotland £2,200,000 South Africa Retief Goosen (6) 50
22 Jul The Open Championship England £3,300,000 United States David Duval (n/a) 100 Major championship
29 Jul TNT Dutch Open Netherlands €1,800,000 Germany Bernhard Langer (40) 34
5 Aug Volvo Scandinavian Masters Sweden €1,800,000 Scotland Colin Montgomerie (26) 40
12 Aug Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open Wales £750,000 Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley (3) 24
19 Aug North West of Ireland Open Ireland €350,000 Germany Tobias Dier (1) 16 CHA
19 Aug PGA Championship United States US$5,200,000 United States David Toms (n/a) 100 Major championship
26 Aug Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship Scotland £1,000,000 England Paul Casey (1) 24
26 Aug WGC-NEC Invitational United States US$5,000,000 United States Tiger Woods (n/a) 68 World Golf Championship
2 Sep BMW International Open Germany €1,800,000 United States John Daly (3) 42
9 Sep Omega European Masters Switzerland €1,500,000 Argentina Ricardo González (1) 24
16 Sep WGC-American Express Championship United States – Cancelled – World Golf Championship
23 Sep Trophée Lancôme France €1,400,000 Spain Sergio García (3) 28
7 Oct Linde German Masters Germany €2,700,000 Germany Bernhard Langer (41) 44
14 Oct Estoril Open Portugal – Cancelled –
14 Oct Cannes Open France €550,000 Argentina Jorge Berendt (1) 24
21 Oct Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000 Scotland Paul Lawrie (4) 48 New tournament
Pro-Am
28 Oct Telefónica Open de Madrid Spain €1,400,000 South Africa Retief Goosen (7) 30
4 Nov Atlanet Italian Open Italy €1,000,000 France Grégory Havret (1) 24
11 Nov Volvo Masters Andalucía Spain US$3,000,000 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington (4) 46 Tour Championship

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) OWGR
points 		Notes
30 Sep Ryder Cup England n/a Postponed[7] n/a Team event
14 Oct Cisco World Match Play Championship England £1,000,000 Wales Ian Woosnam n/a Limited-field event
18 Nov WGC-World Cup Japan US$3,000,000 South Africa Ernie Els and
South Africa Retief Goosen 		n/a World Golf Championship
Team event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.[8][9]

Position Player Prize money (€)
1 South Africa Retief Goosen 2,862,806
2 Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington 2,090,166
3 Northern Ireland Darren Clarke 1,988,055
4 South Africa Ernie Els 1,716,287
5 Scotland Colin Montgomerie 1,578,676
6 New Zealand Michael Campbell 1,577,130
7 Denmark Thomas Bjørn 1,474,802
8 Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley 1,464,434
9 Scotland Paul Lawrie 1,428,831
10 Sweden Niclas Fasth 1,224,588

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Golfer of the Year South Africa Retief Goosen [10]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year England Paul Casey [11]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Tiger Woods won four events, but was not a European Tour member.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ARG − PGA of Argentina Tour; ASA − Asian PGA Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour.
  4. ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event

References

  1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. ^ "U.S. downs Japan as sponsors announce end of Dunhill Cup". The Daily Tribune. Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Associated Press. 15 October 2000. p. 14. Retrieved 4 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Scottish Open: Historic yet new". BBC Sport. 13 July 2001. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Golf". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 23 January 2001. p. 31. Retrieved 4 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com. The European Tour will expand yet into another country on this year's schedule with the inclusion on the calendar of the Argentina Open...
  5. ^ "Cannes Open to replace Estoril". Golf Channel. 27 September 2001. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  6. ^ "2001 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  7. ^ Bonk, Thomas (17 September 2001). "Ryder Cup Put Off a Year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  8. ^ "2001 Order of Merit". European Tour. Archived from the original on 13 March 2004. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Goosen claims European crown". BBC Sport. 28 October 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Goosen named golfer of the year". The Irish Times. 12 December 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Casey named European rookie of the year". The Irish Times. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.