The 1988 European Tour, titled as the 1988 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
Volvo title sponsorship In May 1987, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, being renamed as the Volvo Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth over five years.
Changes for 1988 The season was made up of 30 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Open de Baleares, the Biarritz Open, the English Open and the Volvo Masters; the return of the Torras Hostench Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International. The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1988 season.
DateTournamentHost countryPurse(£)WinnerOWGRpointsNotes13 MarMallorca Open de BalearesSpain200,000 Seve Ballesteros (35)20New tournament20 MarTorras Hostench Barcelona OpenSpain200,000 David Whelan (1)183 AprAGF Biarritz OpenFrance150,000 David Llewellyn (1)16New tournament10 AprMasters TournamentUnited StatesUS$1,000,000 Sandy Lyle (14)100Major championship17 AprCannes OpenFrance200,000 Mark McNulty (7)2024 AprCepsa Madrid OpenSpain200,000 Derrick Cooper (1)221 MayPortuguese OpenPortugal200,000 Mike Harwood (1)188 MayEpson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay ChampionshipWales275,000 Bernhard Langer (19)40Limited-field event15 MayPeugeot Spanish OpenSpain175,000 Mark James (9)3822 MayLancia Italian OpenItaly225,000 Greg Norman (12)2430 MayVolvo PGA ChampionshipEngland300,000 Ian Woosnam (9)445 JunDunhill British MastersEngland250,000 Sandy Lyle (15)4212 JunWang Four Stars National Pro-CelebrityEngland200,000 Rodger Davis (3)20Pro-Am19 JunVolvo Belgian OpenBelgium200,000 José María Olazábal (3)1619 JunU.S. OpenUnited StatesUS$1,000,000 Curtis Strange (n/a)100Major championship26 JunPeugeot Open de FranceFrance275,000 Nick Faldo (14)402 JulMonte Carlo OpenFrance200,000 José Rivero (3)249 JulBell's Scottish OpenScotland250,000 Barry Lane (1)4417 JulThe Open ChampionshipEngland500,000 Seve Ballesteros (36)100Major championship24 JulKLM Dutch OpenNetherlands250,000 Mark Mouland (2)3431 JulScandinavian Enterprise OpenSweden250,000 Seve Ballesteros (37)347 AugBenson & Hedges International OpenEngland250,000 Peter Baker (1)3814 AugPLM OpenSweden200,000 Frank Nobilo (1)1614 AugPGA ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$1,000,000 Jeff Sluman (n/a)100Major championship21 AugCarroll's Irish OpenIreland225,000 Ian Woosnam (10)4228 AugGerman OpenWest Germany275,000 Seve Ballesteros (38)384 SepEbel European Masters Swiss OpenSwitzerland400,000 Chris Moody (1)4411 SepPanasonic European OpenEngland300,000 Ian Woosnam (11)4218 SepTrophée LancômeFrance400,000 Seve Ballesteros (39)46Limited-field event25 SepGerman MastersWest Germany300,000 José María Olazábal (4)442 OctEnglish OpenEngland175,000 Howard Clark (11)16New tournament9 Oct6 MarMoroccan OpenMorocco–Cancelled–23 OctBNP Jersey OpenJersey125,000 Des Smyth (6)1630 OctVolvo MastersSpain350,000 Nick Faldo (15)44New tournamentTour Championship
Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the European Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
DateTournamentHost countryPurse(£)Winner(s)OWGRpointsNotes10 OctSuntory World Match Play ChampionshipEngland275,000 Sandy Lyle32Limited-field event16 OctDunhill CupScotlandUS$1,000,000 Team Englandn/aTeam event18 OctEquity & Law ChallengeEngland125,000 Ronan Raffertyn/a27 OctUAP European Under-25 ChampionshipFrancen/a Jean van de Velden/a6 NovEuropcar CupFrancen/a Team Swedenn/aTeam event13 NovBenson & Hedges TrophySpain200,000 Mark McNulty and Marie-Laure Tayan/aTeam event11 DecWorld CupAustraliaUS$750,000 Ben Crenshaw and Mark McCumbern/aTeam eventWorld Cup Individual Trophy Ben Crenshawn/a18 DecKirin CupUnited StatesUS$1,000,000 Team USAn/aTeam event
Order of Merit The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.
Position Player Prize money (£)1 Seve Ballesteros 451,5602 Nick Faldo 347,9713 José María Olazábal 285,9644 Ian Woosnam 234,9915 Sandy Lyle 186,0186 Mark McNulty 180,9927 Des Smyth 171,9518 Mark James 152,9009 Ronan Rafferty 132,39510 José Rivero 131,079
Awards AwardWinner Golfer of the Year Seve Ballesteros Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Colin Montgomerie
Notes
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