PGA European Tour
The PGA European Tour is an organization based at the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. It operates the three leading professional golf tournament series in Europe:
- The European Tour ( the highest division )
- The Challenge Tour ( the second- highest division )
- The European Seniors Tour ( for Professionals over 50 years)
Originally held as a purely European Tour, the European Tour has increasingly spread out and now organizes tournaments on all continents except North America, which remains the U.S. PGA TOUR reserved. The four so-called majors ( Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship ) are now both part of the PGA European Tour and the PGA TOUR, the third event organizations responsible.
The PGA European Tour, also directed the Ryder Cup in cooperation with the PGA of America.
Qualification criteria
The PGA European Tour holds annually in the fall several qualifying tournaments, the PGA European Tour Qualifying School in three stages from qualifying, the first 30 of the Final Qualifying Stage obtain the eligibility for the following year on the European Tour. In addition, eligible to play the first 20 of the Challenge Tour money list and the first 115 of the Race to Dubai ( European Tour money list ).
The Race to Dubai
At the start of the 2009 season was the traditional money list on the European Tour, the European Tour Order of Merit, replaced by The Race to Dubai.
The Race to Dubai is a doped with a bonus prize pool competition series consisting of all relevant to the money list, tournaments on the European Tour a season. It ends with the Dubai World Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, in which the top 60 on the money list are eligible, and that is with a current prize money of U.S. $ 8 million one of the most valuable golf tournament world. Then the top-10 ranked player of the season vote share the bonus prize pool.
The overall winner of The Race to Dubai will receive a 10 -year-old eligible to play on the European Tour and as already been the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Since 2011, the season and The Race to Dubai starts in January and ends in December with the Dubai World Championship. Rory McIlroy earned in 2012, the highest prize money, which previously won a golfer ever in a season.
European Tour Order of Merit
The Order of Merit of the tour is done in Euros, although over half of the prize money in pounds sterling or U.S. dollars are advertised. In this case, the exchange rate at the time of the tournament will be used. The respective winners were awarded at the end of the season with the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Until 1998 was calculated in British Pounds.
Before 1975, the Order of Merit based on a point system, which means that the winner has not necessarily won the most prize money.
Although the European Tour officially began in 1972, but there is a merit list for 1971 on the official website and official or semi-official merit lists already existed before.