The 2009 European Tour was the 38th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Race to Dubai introduction There were major changes for the 2009 season as the tour entered a partnership agreement with Dubai based Leisurecorp. The Order of Merit was renamed as the Race to Dubai, with a bonus pool of US$7.5 million (originally $10 million) distributed among the top 15 players at the end of the season, with the winner taking $1.5 million (originally $2 million). The new name reflected the addition of a new season ending tournament, the Dubai World Championship, held at the end of November in Dubai. The tournament also had a $7.5 million prize fund (originally $10 million), and was contested by the leading 60 players in the race following the season's penultimate event, the Hong Kong Open. The winner of the Race to Dubai also received a ten-year European Tour exemption, while the winner of the Dubai World Championship received a five-year exemption. The reduction in prize money, announced in September 2009, was due to the global economic downturn.

Changes for 2009 Changes for the 2009 season included two new tournaments, the Moravia Silesia Open in the Czech Republic and the Dubai World Championship, the addition of the Singapore Open, and the return of the Volvo World Match Play Championship after being cancelled in 2008. In addition, as a result of plans to realign the schedule with the calendar year for 2010, the HSBC Champions, Hong Kong Open and the Australian Masters were held twice during the 2009 season. The HSBC Champions became a World Golf Championships event effective with its November 2009 edition.

In December 2008, the Indian Masters, scheduled for February, was cancelled due the 2008 financial crisis, and then in January 2009 it was announced that the revival of the English Open, scheduled for August, would be postponed for at least two years after developers of the St. Mellion International Resort ran into financial difficulties. In May it was announced that due to lack of sponsorship the British Masters had also been dropped from the schedule, with the Austrian Open being rescheduled from June to take its place on the calendar in September.

Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2009 season.

DateTournamentHost countryPurseWinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotes10 NovHSBC ChampionsChinaUS$5,000,000 Sergio García (8)52AFR, ANZ, ASALimited-field event23 NovUBS Hong Kong OpenHong KongUS$2,250,000 Lin Wen-tang (1)32ASA30 NovSportsbet Australian MastersAustraliaA$1,500,000 Rod Pampling (1)22ANZ14 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipSouth Africa€1,000,000 Richard Sterne (4)24AFR21 DecSouth African Open ChampionshipSouth Africa€1,000,000 Richard Sterne (5)40AFR11 JanJoburg OpenSouth Africa€1,100,000 Anders Hansen (3)20AFR18 JanAbu Dhabi Golf ChampionshipUAEUS$2,000,000 Paul Casey (9)4825 JanCommercialbank Qatar MastersQatarUS$2,500,000 Álvaro Quirós (3)541 FebDubai Desert ClassicUAEUS$2,500,000 Rory McIlroy (1)528 FebIndian MastersIndia–Cancelled–ASA15 FebMaybank Malaysian OpenMalaysiaUS$2,000,000 Anthony Kang (1)30ASA22 FebJohnnie Walker ClassicAustralia£1,250,000 Danny Lee (a) (1)32ANZ, ASA1 MarWGC-Accenture Match Play ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$8,500,000 Geoff Ogilvy (4)76World Golf Championship1 MarEnjoy Jakarta Indonesia OpenIndonesiaUS$1,250,000 Thongchai Jaidee (3)20ASA15 MarWGC-CA ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$8,500,000 Phil Mickelson (n/a)78World Golf Championship22 MarMadeira Islands Open BPI - PortugalPortugal€700,000 Estanislao Goya (1)2429 MarOpen de AndalucíaSpain€1,000,000 Søren Kjeldsen (3)245 AprEstoril Open de PortugalPortugal€1,250,000 Michael Hoey (1)2412 AprMasters TournamentUnited StatesUS$7,500,000 Ángel Cabrera (5)100Major championship19 AprVolvo China OpenChinaUS$2,200,000 Scott Strange (2)18ONE26 AprBallantine's ChampionshipSouth Korea€2,100,000 Thongchai Jaidee (4)32ASA, KOR3 MayOpen de EspañaSpain€2,000,000 Thomas Levet (5)2410 MayBMW Italian OpenItaly€1,300,000 Daniel Vancsik (2)2417 May3 Irish OpenIreland€3,000,000 Shane Lowry (a) (1)4024 MayBMW PGA ChampionshipEngland€4,500,000 Paul Casey (10) 64Flagship event31 MayEuropean OpenEngland£1,800,000 Christian Cévaër (2)487 JunCeltic Manor Wales OpenWales£1,800,000 Jeppe Huldahl (1)2421 JunSaint-Omer OpenFrance€600,000 Christian Nilsson (1)18CHA22 JunU.S. OpenUnited StatesUS$7,500,000 Lucas Glover (n/a)100Major championship28 JunBMW International OpenGermany€2,000,000 Nick Dougherty (3)365 JulOpen de France AlstomFrance€4,000,000 Martin Kaymer (3)4412 JulBarclays Scottish OpenScotland£3,000,000 Martin Kaymer (4)5419 JulThe Open ChampionshipScotland£4,200,000 Stewart Cink (1)100Major championship26 JulSAS MastersSweden€1,000,000 Ricardo González (4)242 AugMoravia Silesia OpenCzech Republic€2,000,000 Oskar Henningsson (1)249 AugWGC-Bridgestone InvitationalUnited StatesUS$8,500,000 Tiger Woods (n/a)76World Golf Championship16 AugEnglish OpenEngland–Cancelled–16 AugPGA ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$7,500,000 Yang Yong-eun (2)100Major championship23 AugKLM OpenNetherlands€1,800,000 Simon Dyson (3)2430 AugJohnnie Walker Championship at GleneaglesScotland£1,400,000 Peter Hedblom (3)246 SepOmega European MastersSwitzerland€2,000,000 Alex Norén (1)32ASA13 SepMercedes-Benz ChampionshipGermany€2,000,000 James Kingston (2)40Limited-field event20 SepBritish MastersEngland–Cancelled–20 Sep14 JunAustrian Golf OpenAustria€1,000,000 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (1)245 OctAlfred Dunhill Links ChampionshipScotlandUS$5,000,000 Simon Dyson (4)46Pro-Am11 OctMadrid MastersSpain€1,500,000 Ross McGowan (1)2618 OctPortugal MastersPortugal€3,000,000 Lee Westwood (19)4625 OctCastelló Masters Costa AzaharSpain€2,000,000 Michael Jonzon (2)281 NovBarclays Singapore OpenSingaporeUS$5,000,000 Ian Poulter (8)46ASANew to European Tour1 NovVolvo World Match Play ChampionshipSpain€3,250,000 Ross Fisher (3)42Limited-field event8 NovWGC-HSBC ChampionsChinaUS$7,000,000 Phil Mickelson (n/a)66World Golf Championship15 NovJBWere MastersAustraliaA$1,500,000 Tiger Woods (n/a)28ANZ15 NovUBS Hong Kong OpenHong KongUS$2,500,000 Grégory Bourdy (3)44ASA22 NovDubai World ChampionshipUAEUS$7,500,000 Lee Westwood (20)56New tournamentTour Championship

Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the European Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

DateTournamentHost countryPurseWinnersOWGRpointsNotes11 JanRoyal TrophyThailand€1,000,000Team Asian/aTeam event27 SepVivendi Trophy with Seve BallesterosFrance€1,150,000 Team GB&In/aTeam event30 NovOmega Mission Hills World CupChinaUS$5,500,000 Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinarin/aTeam event

Location of tournaments

Race to Dubai The Race to Dubai was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.

Player Majors Principal events Top 10s in other events Money12345678(€)($)Total(€) 1 Westwood43rd T23 T3 T3T17 T61 9th T8CUT 1stT3 T7 2nd T8 T8 T9 1st T9 26 3,240,952 1,500,0004,237,762 2 McIlroyT20 T10 T47 T3T5 T20 T68 4th5th 3rdT2 T3 T5 1st T7 T2 T5 T2 25 2,862,413 1,125,0003,610,020 3 KaymerCUT CUT T34 T6T17 T35 T60 T6T11 T37T2 T4 1st 1st T2 20 2,365,937 750,0002,864,342 4 R. FisherT30 5th T13 T194th T46 43rd T282nd T42T8 1st 22 2,132,459 600,0002,531,183 5 CaseyT20 CUT T47 •2nd T31 WD WD1st •1st T4 T10 14 2,014,063 525,0002,362,947 6 OgilvyT15 T47 CUT T431st T40 T22 T10• T4T3 13 1,903,771 450,0002,202,814 7 WilsonCUT T23 T24 T19T9 T5 T11 T45CUT T162nd T6 T2 T5 25 1,736,035 412,5002,010,158 8 Dyson• CUT • •• • • T28T16 T37T7 T2 T6 1st T7 T3 1st 8th 32 1,558,550 375,0001,807,753 9 PoulterT20 T18 CUT T19T9 T13 T15 T45• T93rd 1st T5 15 1,549,187 337,5001,773,470 10 GarcíaT38 T10 T38 CUTT33 T31 T22 T23• T71st T8 T7 4th T9 17 1,461,426 300,0001,660,788 11 ElsCUT CUT T8 T6T5 T20 T29 2ndT21 T50T3 T4 17 1,397,135 262,5001,571,577 12 McGowan• • • •• • • •CUT 2ndT2 3rd 6th 1st 30 1,396,826 243,7501,558,808 13 KjeldsenCUT • T27 T6T33 T7 T68 T103rd T301st T9 T4 26 1,379,731 225,0001,529,253 14 F. Molinari• T27 T13 T10• • • T10T35 T30T2 T3 3rd T6 2nd T3 27 1,367,949 206,2501,505,010 15 HarringtonT35 CUT T65 T10T33 T20 T2 T25• T4T5 3rd 16 1,343,631 187,5001,468,232

Awards AwardWinner Golfer of the Year Lee Westwood Players' Player of the Year Lee Westwood Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Chris Wood

See also 2009 in golf 2009 European Senior Tour

Notes

References

External links