1985 European Tour
The 1985 European Tour was the 14th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.
| Duration | 18 April 1985 – 2 November 1985 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26 |
| Most wins | 4 – Seve Ballesteros |
| Order of Merit | Sandy Lyle |
| Golfer of the Year | Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Paul Thomas |
← 1984 1986 → | |
The Order of Merit was won by Scotland's Sandy Lyle, who won twice during the season including his first major, The Open Championship. Spain's Seve Ballesteros finished third on the money list despite recording four official tournament wins, including the French and Spanish Opens.
Rule changes
In 1985, the European Tour became "All-Exempt", meaning that for the first time tournaments did not have their own pre-qualifying rounds.[1][2] The final two rounds of all major tournaments were played as two-balls, having previously been three-balls.[3]
Schedule
The table below shows the 1985 European Tour schedule which was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[4][5] There were several changes from the previous season, with the GSI L'Equipe Open replacing the Timex Open; the return of the British Masters[6] and the Bob Hope Classic, which was rebranded as the Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity; and the loss of the Tournament Players Championship and the Celtic International.
In addition, the Dunhill Cup, a new team event devised by Mark McCormack and held over the Old Course at St Andrews, was added to the schedule but did not count towards the Order of Merit; with a prize fund of US$1.2 million it was the richest tournament in the world, surpassing the Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.[7]
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- 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 since, although not official tour events at the time, they have been recognised as such retrospecively. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle |  Scotland | 162,553 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer |  West Germany | 115,716 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros |  Spain | 103,042 |
| 4 | Ian Woosnam | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales | 82,235 |
| 5 | Sam Torrance | Scotland | 79,567 |
| 6 | Howard Clark |  England | 79,386 |
| 7 | Manuel Piñero | Spain | 71,116 |
| 8 | José María Cañizares | Spain | 65,633 |
| 9 | Gordon Brand Jnr | Scotland | 65,571 |
| 10 | Paul Way | England | 63,097 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Bernhard Langer | West Germany |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Thomas | Wales |
References
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- Jacobs, Raymond (26 July 1984). "Satellite tour takes off". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 15. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- "Sport in brief | Golf". The Guardian. London, England. 12 April 1985. p. 20. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Platts, Mitchell (22 November 1984). "A news world opens for European tour". The Times. London, England. p. 28. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- Davies, David (22 November 1984). "Pro tour offers £4m". The Guardian. London, England. p. 27. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Davies, David (31 July 1984). "Masters comes to Woburn". The Guardian. London, England. p. 23. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Platts, Mitchell; Ballantine, John (22 January 1985). "St Andrews to be host of first £1 million event". The Times. London, England. p. 25. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.