1977 European Tour

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1977 European Tour season
Duration6 April 1977 (1977-04-06) – 16 October 1977 (1977-10-16)
Number of official events22
Most wins3 – Seve Ballesteros
Order of MeritSeve Ballesteros
Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the yearNick Faldo
← 1976
1978 →

The 1977 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) European Tournament Players’ Division circuit. It is officially recognised as the sixth season of the PGA European Tour.

Historically, the PGA's Order of Merit only included tournaments in Great Britain and Ireland, but in 1970 events in continental Europe were included for the first time. The circuit and organisation evolved further over the following years, with the Tournament Players’ Division reaching an agreement to join with their continental counterparts, the Continental Tournament Players' Association, in December 1976 and as a result added the word "European" to their name for the 1977 season.[1][2] The title of the circuit was changed to the PGA European Golf Tour in 1979.[3]

The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.

Schedule[]

The table below shows the 1977 European Tour schedule which was made up of 22 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting tournaments that later became known as "Approved Special Events". The schedule included the major national opens around Europe, with the other tournaments mostly held in England and Scotland.

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Callers of Newcastle and the Tournament Players Championship, which replaced the Piccadilly Medal.[2][4] Two events not counting for the Order of Merit, the Phillip Morris Nations Cup and the Sumrie Better-Ball, originally pencilled in for May,[5] were cancelled.[6]

Dates Tournament Host country Winner[a] Notes
6–9 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal Spain Manuel Ramos (1)
7–10 Apr Masters Tournament United States United States Tom Watson (n/a) Major championship; non-tour event[a]
13–16 Apr Spanish Open Spain Scotland Bernard Gallacher (4)
20–23 Apr Madrid Open Spain Spain Antonio Garrido (2)
28 Apr – 1 May Italian Open Italy Spain Ángel Gallardo (1)
5–8 May French Open France Spain Seve Ballesteros (2)
11–14 May Benson and Hedges International Open England Spain Antonio Garrido (3)
18–21 May Sun Alliance Match Play Championship England South Africa Hugh Baiocchi (4)
25–28 May Penfold PGA Championship England Spain Manuel Piñero (3)
2–5 Jun Kerrygold International Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Liam Higgins (1)
8–11 Jun Martini International England Australia Greg Norman (1)
16–19 Jun U.S. Open United States United States Hubert Green (n/a) Major championship; non-tour event[a]
16–19 Jun Greater Manchester Open England Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy (1)
22–25 Jun Uniroyal International Championship England Spain Seve Ballesteros (3)
29 Jun – 2 Jul Phillip Morris Nations Cup France Cancelled Approved special event; team event
6–9 Jul The Open Championship Scotland United States Tom Watson (n/a) Major championship
14–17 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland Spain Seve Ballesteros (4)
21–24 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden United States Bob Byman (1)
28–31 Jul Callers of Newcastle England South Africa John Fourie (1) New tournament
4–7 Aug German Open West Germany South Africa Tienie Britz (1)
11–14 Aug PGA Championship United States United States Lanny Wadkins (n/a) Major championship; non-tour event[a]
11–14 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands United States Bob Byman (2)
16–17 Aug Skol Lager Individual Scotland England Nick Faldo (1)
18–20 Aug Double Diamond International Scotland United States United States Approved special event; team event
25–28 Aug Carroll's Irish Open Republic of Ireland United States Hubert Green (n/a)
7–10 Sep Tournament Players Championship England England Neil Coles (6) New tournament
15–17 Sept Ryder Cup England United States United States Approved special event; team event
28 Sep – 1 Oct Dunlop Masters England England Guy Hunt (1)
5–8 Oct Colgate World Match Play Championship England Australia Graham Marsh (n/a) Approved special event
13–16 Oct Lancome Trophy France Australia Graham Marsh (n/a) Approved special event
  1. ^ a b c d 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 tournaments later designated as "Approved Special Events", along with other events not counting towards the Order of Merit, 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 a points system, which meant that some players could finish lower than others despite accumulating more prize money.

Position Player Country Prize money (£)
1 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 46,436
2 Hugh Baiocchi  South Africa 32,251
3 Antonio Garrido  Spain 21,581
4 Manuel Piñero  Spain 26,569
5 Bob Byman  United States 19,452
6 Brian Barnes  Scotland 17,557
7 Peter Dawson  England 17,583
8 Nick Faldo  England 23,978
9 Francisco Abreu  Spain 13,294
10 Ángel Gallardo  Spain 14,765

Awards[]

Award Winner Country
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Nick Faldo  England

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Corcoran, Michael (11 May 2010). Duel in the Sun. Simon and Schuster. p. 103. ISBN 9781439141922.
  2. ^ a b Foulger, Neville (23 December 1976). "Cash boost as top players chase rising pound!". Coventry Evening Telegraph. p. 29. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  4. ^ Davies, David (21 December 1976). "European golf prizes top £1m". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 10. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Golf". Liverpool Echo. 16 December 1976. p. 22. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "No Sumrie". Reading Evening Post. 20 April 1977. p. 26. Retrieved 12 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.

External links[]

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