1987 European Tour

The 1987 European Tour, titled as the 1987 PGA European Tour,^[1] was the 16th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

1987 European Tour season

Duration	19 March 1987 (1987-03-19) – 1 November 1987 (1987-11-01)
Number of official events	27[a]
Most wins	Ian Woosnam (4)
Order of Merit	Ian Woosnam
Golfer of the Year	Ian Woosnam
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Peter Baker
← 1986 1988 →

Changes for 1987

The season was made up of 27 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".^[2][3]

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Moroccan Open^[4] and the German Masters,^[3] the return of the Volvo Belgian Open and the loss of the Car Care Plan International.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1987 season.^[5]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (£)	Winner[b]	OWGR points	Notes
22 Mar	Moroccan Open	Morocco	175,000	Howard Clark (9)	16	New tournament
12 Apr	Jersey Open	Jersey	100,000	Ian Woosnam (5)	16
12 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$875,000	Larry Mize (n/a)	100	Major championship[c]
19 Apr	Suze Open	France	150,000	Seve Ballesteros (34)	22
26 Apr	Cepsa Madrid Open	Spain	175,000	Ian Woosnam (6)	22
3 May	Lancia Italian Open	Italy	150,000	Sam Torrance (12)	18
10 May	Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship	Wales	250,000	Mats Lanner (1)	42	Limited-field event
17 May	Peugeot Spanish Open	Spain	175,000	Nick Faldo (12)	42
25 May	Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship	England	225,000	Bernhard Langer (17)	44
31 May	London Standard Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity	England	150,000	Mark McNulty (4)	16	Pro-Am
7 Jun	Dunhill British Masters	England	200,000	Mark McNulty (5)	40
13 Jun	Peugeot Open de France	France	250,000	José Rivero (2)	38
20 Jun	Volvo Belgian Open	Belgium	150,000	Eamonn Darcy (3)	14
21 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$825,000	Scott Simpson (n/a)	100	Major championship[c]
27 Jun	Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open	France	200,000	Peter Senior (2)	22
5 Jul	Carroll's Irish Open	Ireland	225,000	Bernhard Langer (18)	44
11 Jul	Bell's Scottish Open	Scotland	200,000	Ian Woosnam (7)	44
19 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	650,000	Nick Faldo (13)	100	Major championship
26 Jul	KLM Dutch Open	Netherlands	175,000	Gordon Brand Jnr (5)	40
2 Aug	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	Sweden	200,000	Gordon Brand Jnr (6)	34
9 Aug	PLM Open	Sweden	150,000	Howard Clark (10)	16
9 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$900,000	Larry Nelson (n/a)	100	Major championship[c]
16 Aug	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	200,000	Noel Ratcliffe (2)	42
23 Aug	Lawrence Batley International	England	150,000	Mark O'Meara (n/a)	22
30 Aug	German Open	West Germany	275,000	Mark McNulty (6)	38
6 Sep	Ebel European Masters Swiss Open	Switzerland	350,000	Anders Forsbrand (1)	42
13 Sep	Panasonic European Open	England	225,000	Paul Way (3)	48
20 Sep	Trophée Lancôme	France	300,000	Ian Woosnam (8)	46	Limited-field event
11 Oct	German Masters	West Germany	275,000	Sandy Lyle (13)	46	New tournament
25 Oct	Barcelona Open	Spain	–	Cancelled[d]	–
1 Nov	Portuguese Open	Portugal	100,000	Robert Lee (2)	12

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)	OWGR points	Notes
27 Sep	Vernons Open	England	60,000	David Llewellyn	12
27 Sep	Ryder Cup	United States	n/a	Team Europe	n/a	Team event
4 Oct	Dunhill Cup	Scotland	US$1,000,000	Team England	n/a	Team event
13 Oct	Equity & Law Challenge	England	120,000	Barry Lane	n/a	New tournament
18 Oct	Suntory World Match Play Championship	England	275,000	Ian Woosnam	32	Limited-field event
8 Nov	Kirin Cup	Japan	US$950,000	Team USA	n/a	Team event
	Kirin Cup Individual Trophy		n/a	Tom Kite	n/a
21 Nov	World Cup	United States	US$750,000	David Llewellyn and Ian Woosnam	n/a	Team event
	World Cup Individual Trophy			Ian Woosnam	n/a

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Epson Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.^[8]

Position	Player	Prize money (£)
1	Ian Woosnam	253,717
2	Mark McNulty	189,304
3	Nick Faldo	181,833
4	Gordon Brand Jnr	147,787
5	Bernhard Langer	141,394
6	Seve Ballesteros	138,843
7	Peter Senior	126,091
8	Rodger Davis	122,754
9	Sam Torrance	122,556
10	Howard Clark	122,535

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Ian Woosnam	[9]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Peter Baker	[10]

Notes

1. One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
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.
4. Tournament initially postponed and then later cancelled due to bad weather rendering the course unplayable.^[6][7]