1973 European Tour

The 1973 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) tournament circuit. It is officially recognised as the second season of the PGA European Tour.

1973 European Tour season
Duration28 March 1972 (1972-03-28) – 6 October 1972 (1972-10-06)
Number of official events21
Most wins3:
Peter Oosterhuis
Order of Merit Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Pip Elson
← 1972
1974 →

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, adopting the name PGA European Golf Tour in 1979.[1]

The season was made up of 21 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 other tournaments mostly held in England, Scotland and Wales.[2]

The Order of Merit was won by England's Peter Oosterhuis.

Changes for 1973

There were three changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Portuguese Open and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open, and the loss of the John Player Trophy.[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1973 season.

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(£)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
31 Mar Madrid Open Spain 15,000 Germán Garrido (1)
7 Apr Portuguese Open Portugal 15,000 Jaime Benito (1) New to European Tour
9 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$150,000 Tommy Aaron (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
14 Apr Spanish Open Spain 25,000 Neil Coles (2)
21 Apr Italian Open Italy 25,000 Tony Jacklin (2)
28 Apr Piccadilly Medal England 12,000 Peter Oosterhuis (2)
12 May Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament England 8,000 Eddie Polland (1)
26 May Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship England 20,000 Neil Coles (3)
3 Jun French Open France 15,000 Peter Oosterhuis (3)
9 Jun Martini International Scotland 10,000 Maurice Bembridge (1)
17 Jun U.S. Open United States US$220,000 Johnny Miller (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
24 Jun Carroll's International Ireland 15,000 Paddy McGuirk (1)
30 Jun Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open Scotland 15,000 Graham Marsh (3)
14 Jul The Open Championship Scotland 50,000 Tom Weiskopf (n/a) Major championship
22 Jul Scandinavian Enterprise Open Sweden 20,000 Bob Charles (3) New tournament
29 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland 17,500 Hugh Baiocchi (1)
5 Aug German Open West Germany 17,000 Francisco Abreu (1)
12 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands 18,500 Doug McClelland (1)
12 Aug PGA Championship United States US$225,000 Jack Nicklaus (n/a) Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
18 Aug Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf England 15,000 Vin Baker (1)
25 Aug Viyella PGA Championship England 15,000 Peter Oosterhuis (4)
8 Sep W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament England 15,000 Charles Coody (n/a)
29 Sep John Player Classic Scotland 58,000 Charles Coody (n/a)
6 Oct Dunlop Masters Wales 15,000 Tony Jacklin (3)

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) Notes
19 May Sumrie Better-Ball England 10,000 Neil Coles and
Bernard Hunt		 Team event
16 Jun Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship England 5,000 Bernard Gallacher
1 Sep Double Diamond International England 15,000 Team Scotland Team event
22 Sep Ryder Cup Scotland n/a Team USA Team event
13 Oct Piccadilly World Match Play Championship England 25,000 Gary Player Limited-field event
25 Nov World Cup Spain US$4,200 Johnny Miller and
Jack Nicklaus		 Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy US$2,100 Johnny Miller

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[4]

PositionPlayerPointsPrize money (£)
1 Peter Oosterhuis3,44017,455
2 Maurice Bembridge2,98010,773
3 Hugh Baiocchi2,90411,870
4 Dale Hayes2,73610,188
5 Brian Barnes2,6769,778
6 Eddie Polland2,6358,146
7 Tony Jacklin24,840
8 Bernard Gallacher8,676
9 Neil Coles14,748
10 Jack Newton7,939

Awards
AwardWinner
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Pip Elson

See also

Notes
  1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of European Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for European Tour members 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.
  2. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References
  1. "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  2. "£½m. to be won on PGA circuit". Glasgow Herald. 19 January 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  3. Rodney, Bob (26 January 1973). "Top two for Player Classic". Daily Mirror. p. 27. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Oosty ahead of Bembridge". Birmingham Daily Post. 13 October 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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