The 2016 European Tour was the 45th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2016 Rule changes For the 2016 season, the European Tour modified its membership requirements from 13 tournaments inclusive of the four majors and four World Golf Championships, to 5 tournaments exclusive of them; the change was intended to make it easier for United States-based players outside the top-50 in the OWGR to retain their membership, as they may not be eligible for the majors and WGCs.

Schedule changes There were many changes from the previous season. Seven tournaments were lost from the schedule, the most significant being the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational which, due to a clash of dates with the 100th edition of the Open de France, was not sanctioned by the European Tour in 2016. Other tournaments which were removed were the Africa Open, the Malaysian Open, the Madeira Islands Open, the Russian Open, the BMW Masters and the Hong Kong Open, which would take place early in the 2017 season due to a change in dates from October to December. There were four additions to the schedule: the return of the Perth International, the first European Tour sanctioned Australian PGA Championship; the inaugural Maybank Championship, which replaced the Malaysian Open; and the Olympic Men's Golf Competition.

The Final Series was also adjusted; the Nedbank Golf Challenge replaced the dropped BMW Masters, and the series was reduced to three events with the removal of the WGC-HSBC Champions. As a result of the change of dates, the Nedbank Golf Challenge was played twice during the season.

The Fiji International and the King's Cup were added to the schedule during the year.

Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2016 season.

DateTournamentHost countryPurseWinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotes29 NovAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipSouth Africa€1,500,000 Charl Schwartzel (10) 22AFR6 DecAustralian PGA ChampionshipAustraliaA$1,750,000 Nathan Holman (1)20ANZNew to European Tour6 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeSouth AfricaUS$6,500,000 Marc Leishman (n/a)44AFRLimited-field event10 JanBMW SA OpenSouth AfricaR15,000,000 Brandon Stone (1) 32AFR17 JanJoburg OpenSouth AfricaR16,500,000 Haydn Porteous (1) 19AFR24 JanAbu Dhabi HSBC Golf ChampionshipUAEUS$2,700,000 Rickie Fowler (n/a)5230 JanCommercial Bank Qatar MastersQatarUS$2,500,000 Branden Grace (7) 367 FebOmega Dubai Desert ClassicUAEUS$2,650,000 Danny Willett (4) 4814 FebTshwane OpenSouth AfricaR18,500,000 Charl Schwartzel (11)19AFR21 FebMaybank Championship MalaysiaMalaysiaUS$3,000,000 Marcus Fraser (3) 38ASANew tournament28 FebISPS Handa Perth InternationalAustraliaA$1,750,000 Louis Oosthuizen (8)23ANZ, ASA6 MarWGC-Cadillac ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$9,500,000 Adam Scott (10)76World Golf Championship13 MarTrue Thailand ClassicThailandUS$1,750,000 Scott Hend (2) 24ASA20 MarHero Indian OpenIndiaUS$1,660,000 Shiv Chawrasia (3) 19ASA27 MarWGC-Dell Match PlayUnited StatesUS$9,500,000 Jason Day (n/a) 76World Golf Championship10 AprMasters TournamentUnited StatesUS$10,000,000 Danny Willett (5)100Major championship17 AprReal Club Valderrama Open de EspañaSpain€2,000,000 Andrew Johnston (1)2825 AprShenzhen InternationalChinaUS$2,800,000 Lee Soo-min (1) 241 MayVolvo China OpenChinaCN¥20,000,000 Li Haotong (1) 26ONE8 MayTrophée Hassan IIMorocco€1,500,000 Wang Jeung-hun (1)2415 MayAfrAsia Bank Mauritius OpenMauritius€1,000,000 Wang Jeung-hun (2)17AFR, ASA22 MayDubai Duty Free Irish OpenIreland€4,000,000 Rory McIlroy (13)4629 MayBMW PGA ChampionshipEngland€5,000,000 Chris Wood (3) 64Flagship event5 JunNordea MastersSweden€1,500,000 Matt Fitzpatrick (2) 2412 JunLyoness OpenAustria€1,000,000 Wu Ashun (2) 2419 JunU.S. OpenUnited StatesUS$10,000,000 Dustin Johnson (n/a) 100Major championship26 JunBMW International OpenGermany€2,000,000 Henrik Stenson (10) 343 JulOpen de FranceFrance€3,500,000 Thongchai Jaidee (8) 4210 JulAberdeen Asset Management Scottish OpenScotland£3,250,000 Alex Norén (5) 4617 JulThe Open ChampionshipScotland£6,500,000 Henrik Stenson (11) 100Major championship31 JulKing's CupThailandUS$750,000 Chan Shih-chang (1) 14ASANew to European Tour31 JulPGA ChampionshipUnited StatesUS$10,500,000 Jimmy Walker (n/a) 100Major championship7 AugAberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match PlayScotland€1,000,000 Anthony Wall (2) 24Limited-field event21 AugD+D Real Czech MastersCzech Republic€1,000,000 Paul Peterson (1)2428 AugMade in DenmarkDenmark€1,800,000 Thomas Pieters (3) 244 SepOmega European MastersSwitzerland€2,700,000 Alex Norén (6)30ASA11 SepKLM OpenNetherlands€1,800,000 Joost Luiten (5)2418 SepItalian OpenItaly€3,000,000 Francesco Molinari (4) 3625 SepPorsche European OpenGermany€2,000,000 Alexander Lévy (3)249 OctFiji InternationalFijiA$1,500,000 Brandt Snedeker (n/a)16ANZNew to European Tour9 OctAlfred Dunhill Links ChampionshipScotlandUS$5,000,000 Tyrrell Hatton (1)40Pro-Am16 OctBritish MastersEngland£3,000,000 Alex Norén (7)3423 OctPortugal MastersPortugal€2,000,000 Pádraig Harrington (15) 2430 OctWGC-HSBC ChampionsChinaUS$9,500,000 Hideki Matsuyama (n/a) 70World Golf Championship6 NovTurkish Airlines OpenTurkeyUS$7,000,000 Thorbjørn Olesen (4) 30Race to Dubai finals series13 NovNedbank Golf ChallengeSouth AfricaUS$7,000,000 Alex Norén (8) 46Race to Dubai finals series20 NovDP World Tour Championship, DubaiUAEUS$8,000,000 Matt Fitzpatrick (3) 52Race to Dubai finals series

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

DateTournamentHost countryPurseWinner(s)OWGRpointsNotes17 JanEurAsia CupMalaysian/a Team Europen/aTeam event14 AugOlympic GamesBraziln/a Justin Rose46Limited-field event2 OctRyder CupUnited Statesn/a Team USAn/aTeam event27 NovISPS Handa World Cup of GolfAustraliaUS$8,000,000 Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesenn/aTeam event

Location of tournaments

Race to Dubai The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.

Player Majors Flagship event and finals series Top 10s in other events Points and money1234567points($)Totalpoints 1 StensonT24 WD 1st T7T28 • T2• • 8th T9T2 T3 T6 T4 1st 15 4,148,402 1,250,0005,289,506 2 Willett1st T37 T53 T79T3 T28 75th3rd T68 T11 T50T4 1st 2nd 22 3,734,528 750,0004,419,190 3 Norén• CUT T46 T49• • T12T43 • 1st T23T6 T9 8th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 22 3,447,323 600,0003,995,053 4 Hatton• • T5 T10• • T23T7 T10 T25 2ndT8 T5 2nd 1st T9 23 3,233,586 500,0003,690,027 5 McIlroyT10 CUT T5 CUTT3 4th T4• • • T9T3 T6 1st 3rd 12 2,971,988 400,0003,337,141 6 FitzpatrickT7 T54 CUT T49T35 T38 T16T47 • T20 1st1st T9 5th T7 26 2,395,788 350,0002,715,297 7 GraceCUT T5 T72 T4T23 T18 T30• • T3 T27T8 T4 T4 T5 1st 16 2,098,915 325,0002,395,602 8 Cabrera-BelloT17 T32 T39 T49T11 3rd T19T22 • T55 T23T2 T2 T8 4th 21 2,069,184 300,0002,343,049 9 WiesbergerT34 CUT CUT CUTT14 T51 T35T15 4th • T4T7 2nd 5th T7 2nd 25 2,015,865 275,0002,266,907 10 OosthuizenT15 T23 CUT T22T14 2nd T45• • 9th T46T7 1st 16 1,938,370 250,0002,166,590

Awards AwardWinner Golfer of the Year Henrik Stenson Players' Player of the Year (Seve Ballesteros Award) Henrik Stenson Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Wang Jeung-hun Graduate of the Year Nacho Elvira

See also 2015 in golf 2016 in golf 2016 Challenge Tour 2016 European Senior Tour

Notes

References

External links