1997 European Tour
The 1997 European Tour was the 26th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.[1]
| Duration | 23 January 1997 – 2 November 1997 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 38 |
| Most wins | 4: Bernhard Langer |
| Volvo Order of Merit |  Colin Montgomerie |
| Golfer of the Year | Colin Montgomerie |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Scott Henderson |
← 1996 1998 → | |
The Order of Merit was won by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie for the fifth year in succession.
Changes for 1997
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the South African Open, which replaced the FNB Players Championship, and the loss of the Catalan Open, the Austrian Open and the Scottish Open, which was effectively superseded by the Loch Lomond World Invitational.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1997 season. The season was made up of 34 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2]
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Sep | Ryder Cup | Spain | n/a |  Team Europe |
n/a | Two 12-man teams |
| 12 Oct | Toyota World Match Play Championship | England | 650,000 |  Vijay Singh |
42 | 12-player field |
| 12 Oct | Open Novotel Perrier | France | n/a |  Anders Forsbrand and Michael Jonzon |
n/a | Team event |
| 19 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | 1,000,000 |  Team South Africa |
n/a | Team event |
| 9 Nov | Subaru Sarazen World Open | United States | US$2,000,000 |  Mark Calcavecchia |
40 | |
| 23 Nov | World Cup of Golf | United States | US$1,300,000 |  Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley |
n/a | Team event |
| World Cup of Golf Individual Trophy | US$200,000 | Colin Montgomerie |
n/a | |||
| 4 Jan | Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf | United States | US$3,650,000 | Colin Montgomerie |
58 | 32-player field |
Order of Merit
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.[1][3]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Montgomerie | 798,947 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer | 692,398 |
| 3 |  Lee Westwood | 588,718 |
| 4 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Darren Clarke | 537,409 |
| 5 |  Ian Woosnam | 503,562 |
| 6 |  Ignacio Garrido | 411,479 |
| 7 | Retief Goosen | 394,597 |
| 8 | Pádraig Harrington | 388,982 |
| 9 | José María Olazábal | 385,648 |
| 10 | Robert Karlsson | 364,542 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Colin Montgomerie |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Scott Henderson |
Notes
- 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, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- AFR − Southern Africa Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia.
- Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
References
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- Hopkins, John (1 November 1996). "Schofield accepts the need for Tour to rebuild confidence". The Times. London, England. p. 48. Retrieved 2 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- "European Order of Merit". The Times. London, England. 5 November 1997. p. 50. Retrieved 2 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.