1972 European Tour

The 1972 European Tour, titled as the 1972 PGA European Tour,^[1] was the inaugural season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe.

1972 European Tour season

Duration	6 April 1972 (1972-04-06) – 22 October 1972 (1972-10-22)
Number of official events	20
Most wins	Bob Charles (2)[a] Graham Marsh (2) Jack Newton (2)
Order of Merit	Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sam Torrance
1973 →

Changes for 1972

There were several changes from the previous year's British PGA circuit schedule, with the inclusion of the Madrid Open, the Dutch Open and the Lancia d'Oro tournament; they joined the five national opens in continental Europe that were included in 1971.^[2] Also added were the John Player Trophy and the Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open, as well as the returning John Player Classic and Sumrie Better-Ball tournaments;^[3] lost from the calendar were the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament, the Classic International, the Daks Tournament and the Gallaher Ulster Open.^[4]

According to the United Press International, the circuit exceeded $1,000,000 in total prize money for the first time.^[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1972 season.^[6][7][4]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (£)	Winner[b]	Notes
9 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$204,649	Jack Nicklaus (n/a)	Major championship[c]
15 Apr	Spanish Open	Spain	10,060	Antonio Garrido (1)
22 Apr	Madrid Open	Spain	10,060	Jimmy Kinsella (1)
27 Apr	Piccadilly Medal	England	12,000	Tommy Horton (1)
13 May	Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament	England	8,000	Peter Oosterhuis (1)
27 May	John Player Trophy	England	8,000	Ross Whitehead (1)
10 Jun	Martini International	England	8,000	Brian Barnes (1)
20 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$200,000	Jack Nicklaus (n/a)	Major championship[c]
25 Jun	Carroll's International	Ireland	15,000	Christy O'Connor Snr (1)
1 Jul	Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open	Scotland	10,000	Neil Coles (1)
15 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	50,000	Lee Trevino (n/a)	Major championship
23 Jul	French Open	France	11,020	Barry Jaeckel (1)
30 Jul	Swiss Open	Switzerland	10,240	Graham Marsh (1)
6 Aug	German Open	West Germany	11,600	Graham Marsh (2)
6 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$225,000	Gary Player (n/a)	Major championship[c]
13 Aug	Dutch Open	Netherlands	10,700	Jack Newton (1)
19 Aug	Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf	England	15,000	Jack Newton (2)
26 Aug	Viyella PGA Championship	England	15,000	Tony Jacklin (1)
16 Sep	Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship	England	20,000	John Garner (1)
23 Sep	W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament	Scotland	15,000	Peter Thomson (1)
30 Sep	John Player Classic	Scotland	56,550	Bob Charles (1)
7 Oct	Dunlop Masters	England	15,000	Bob Charles (2)
15 Oct	Italian Open	Italy	15,000	Norman Wood (1)
22 Oct	Lancia d'Oro	Italy	10,700	José María Cañizares (1)

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
20 May	Sumrie Better-Ball	England	8,000	Malcolm Gregson and Brian Huggett	Team event
3 Jun	Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship	England	4,000	Peter Oosterhuis
2 Sep	Double Diamond International	England	15,000	Team England	Team event
8 Sep	Lord Derby's Under-25 Match Play Championship	England	2,255	Sam Torrance
14 Oct	Piccadilly World Match Play Championship	England	25,000	Tom Weiskopf	Limited-field event
12 Nov	World Cup	Australia	US$2,000	Hsieh Min-Nan and Lu Liang-Huan	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy		US$1,000	Hsieh Min-Nan

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.^[7][8][9]

Position	Player	Points	Prize money (£)
1	Peter Oosterhuis	1,751	18,525
2	Guy Hunt	1,710	9,809
3	Brian Huggett	1,702	10,167
4	Peter Townsend	1,640	8,592
5	Jack Newton	1,637	8,899
6	John Garner	1,616	8,006
7	Peter Butler	1,614	8,376
8	Brian Barnes	1,603	9,104
9	Neil Coles	1,597	8,629
10	Clive Clark	1,575	5,831

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sam Torrance	[10]

Notes

1. Jack Nicklaus also won two events, but was not a European Tour member.
2. 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.
3. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.