List of golfers with most European Tour wins

This is a list of golfers who have won eight or more events on the European Tour since it was established in 1972. There are some complications in preparing such a list, and different publications have produced different numbers. This list is based on what the European Tour reports the victories being according to their own player guide (through the 2009 season).[1]

The number of wins a player can accumulate on the European Tour depends in part on how many years he devotes to the tour. There have always been some leading European players or European Tour members from outside Europe who have gone on to play part or full-time on the U.S.-based PGA Tour and cut back their commitments in Europe, and this seems to be an increasing trend.

Many of the players on the list have won many events on other tours and unofficial events. The numbers in the "Majors" column are the total number of major championships the player won in his career whether or not he was a member of the European Tour at the time.

Players under 50 years of age are shown in bold. At age 50, golfers become eligible for the major senior tours, most notably the European Senior Tour and the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions, competing for substantial prize money against other golfers in that age group. Only Miguel Ángel Jiménez has ever won a European Tour event after turning 50 (doing so four months after his 50th birthday in 2014),[2] and only three golfers of that age have won on the PGA Tour since 1975.

Players with the same number of wins are listed alphabetically. This list is up to date through 2 February 2020.[3][4]

RankNameLifespanCountryWinsMajorsWinning spanSpan
(years)
1Seve Ballesteros H1957–2011 Spain5051976–199520
2Bernhard Langer H1957– Germany4221980–200223
3Tiger Woods1975– United States41151997–201922
4Colin Montgomerie H1963– Scotland3101989–200719
5Nick Faldo H1957– England3061977–199620
6Ian Woosnam H1958– Wales2911982–199716
7Ernie Els H1969– South Africa2841994–201320
8Lee Westwood1973– England2501996–202025
9José María Olazábal H1966– Spain2321986–200520
10Miguel Ángel Jiménez1964– Spain2101992–201423
Sam Torrance1953– Scotland01976–199823
12Mark James1953– England1801978–199720
Sandy Lyle H1958– Scotland21979–199214
14Sergio García1980– Spain1611999–201921
Mark McNulty1953– Zimbabwe01979–200123
16Thomas Bjørn1971– Denmark1501996–201318
Paul Casey1977– England02001–202121
Pádraig Harrington1971– Ireland31996–201621
19Darren Clarke1968– Northern Ireland1411993–201119
Retief Goosen H1969– South Africa21996–200712
Rory McIlroy1989– Northern Ireland42009–201911
Greg Norman H1955– Australia21977–199418
23Vijay Singh H1963– Fiji1331989–200820
24Ian Poulter1976– England1202000–201213
Justin Rose1980– England12002–201817
26Howard Clark1954– England1101978–198811
Robert Karlsson1969– Sweden01995–201016
Martin Kaymer1984– Germany22008–20147
Graeme McDowell1979– Northern Ireland12002–202019
Charl Schwartzel1984– South Africa12005–201612
Adam Scott1980– Australia12003–201917
Henrik Stenson1976– Sweden12001–201616
32Bernard Gallacher1949– Scotland1001972–198413
Graham Marsh1944– Australia01972–198514
Phil Mickelson H1970– United States52004–201815
Alex Norén1982– Sweden02009–201810
37Brian Barnes1945–2019 Scotland901972–198110
Branden Grace1988– South Africa02012–20209
Jack Nicklaus H1940– United States181972–198615
Louis Oosthuizen1982– South Africa12010–20189
Manuel Piñero1952– Spain01974–198512
42Gordon Brand Jnr1958–2019 Scotland801982–199312
Michael Campbell1969– New Zealand12000–20056
Tony Jacklin H1944– England21972–198211
Thongchai Jaidee1969– Thailand02004–201613
Dustin Johnson1984– United States22013–20208
Paul Lawrie1969– Scotland11996–201217
Eduardo Romero1954– Argentina01989–200214
Des Smyth1953– Ireland01979–200123

H signifies members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Detailed criteria

  • Only European Tour sanctioned events are counted. As all elite golfers enter the four major championships and the four (three before 2009) individual World Golf Championships each season it is possible for a player to accumulate eight wins in European Tour sanctioned events without ever joining the European Tour, and Tiger Woods (who has never joined the European Tour) reached that mark in the 2000 Open Championship.
  • The three U.S.-based majors were not designated as European Tour events until 1997, so victories in them before that date were initially excluded. This is in contrast to the list of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, which includes Open Championship wins before that tournament became an official money event in 1995, because they were retrospectively designated as PGA Tour wins in 2002. Sometime prior to 2009, the European Tour made such a retrospective designation with respect to the three U.S. majors, as reflected in their 2009 media guide.
  • Wins in the Wentworth World Match Play Championship before 2003 are not included.
  • The win lists in the player profiles on the European Tour's official site include some miscellaneous items which are not regular individual tour wins and are therefore excluded: wins in 18 hole pro-ams associated with European Tour events; wins in the Volvo Bonus Pool; team wins in the Seve Trophy; wins on the Challenge Tour and the European Senior Tour.

There are additional players who won eight or more tournaments on the pre-tour European circuit and the European Tour in the period straddling 1972 who are not included on the list.

See also

References

  1. "Section 4: Records & Statistics". 2010 European Tour Official Guide. PGA European Tour. p. 457.
  2. "Jimenez Rewrites History on Home Soil" (Press release). PGA European Tour. 18 May 2014.
  3. "Most Official Victories". PGA European Tour. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018.
  4. Based on referenced table with incremental updates.
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