2012 European Tour
The 2012 European Tour was the fourth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 41st season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
| Duration | 5 January 2012 – 25 November 2012 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 45 (+ 4 cancelled) |
| Most wins | 4 – Branden Grace |
| Race to Dubai | Rory McIlroy |
| Golfer of the Year | Rory McIlroy |
| Players' Player of the Year | Rory McIlroy |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Ricardo Santos |
← 2011 2013 → | |
The Race to Dubai was won by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who also collected the Golfer of the Year award having also headed the PGA Tour money list and ascended to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking during 2012.[1] Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Portugal's Ricardo Santos.
Schedule
The table below shows the 2012 European Tour schedule,[2] which comprised 45 tournaments counting for the Race to Dubai, including the four major championships and four World Golf Championships, and one team competition. The season began in January with the Africa Open in South Africa, culminating with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in November.
Prior to the start of the 2011 season, the tour had announced their intention to realign the schedule with the calendar.[3] As a result, in 2012 there were several changes from the previous season. There was initially one new tournament in 2012, the Perth International, and several tournaments were dropped: the Castelló Masters, the Iskandar Johor Open, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship,[4] which was played in December as part of the 2013 season.
During the season, the BMW Masters in China was added to the schedule,[5] the Czech Open was cancelled,[6] and three tournaments in Spain were also cancelled: the Iberdrola Open,[7] the Madrid Masters,[8] and the Andalucía Masters.[9]
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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 which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998 and earlier editions have been retrospectively recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
Location of tournaments
    Location of official tournaments of the 2012 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Flagship event Regular event
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.svg.png.webp)    Location of official tournaments of the 2012 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Tour Championship Regular event
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Race to Dubai
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai". It is based on money earned during the season and is calculated in euro, with earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies being converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event. The following table shows the final top-10 in the 2012 standings and includes the bonus pool.
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy |  Northern Ireland | 15 | 5,519,118 |
| 2 | Justin Rose |  England | 13 | 3,768,345 |
| 3 | Louis Oosthuizen |  South Africa | 16 | 3,187,364 |
| 4 | Peter Hanson |  Sweden | 21 | 3,022,916 |
| 5 | Ian Poulter | England | 15 | 2,581,257 |
| 6 | Branden Grace | South Africa | 26 | 2,502,501 |
| 7 | Luke Donald | England | 13 | 2,373,540 |
| 8 | Francesco Molinari |  Italy | 25 | 2,215,229 |
| 9 | Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland | 16 | 1,945,056 |
| 10 | Paul Lawrie |  Scotland | 25 | 1,910,381 |
- Full list can be found here.
Ernie Els would have qualified for the DP World Tour Championship in 7th place but failed to meet the minimum required starts of 12.
Awards
Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award:
| Month | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| January | Branden Grace | South Africa |
| February | Paul Lawrie | Scotland |
| March | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| April | Louis Oosthuizen | South Africa |
| May | Luke Donald | England |
| June | Jamie Donaldson | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales |
| July | Ernie Els | South Africa |
| August | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| September | Ian Poulter | England |
| October | Peter Hanson | Sweden |
| November | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |  Spain |
See also
References
- "Rory McIlroy named European Tour golfer of the year". BBC Sport. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- "European Tour schedule". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- "European Tour unveils 2011 Race to Dubai schedule". BBC Sport. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "European Tour releases complete 2012 schedule". Golf Channel. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "European Tour adds BMW Masters in Shanghai to schedule". BBC Sport. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- "Czech Open canceled for 2012". Golf Channel. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- "Lacking a sponsor, Iberdrola Open cancels". Golfweek (USA Today). 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- "Madrid Open wiped from calendar". ESPN. Associated Press. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- "Andalucia Masters canceled". ESPN. Associated Press. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- "Events | European Tour | 2012". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 6 May 2020.