1999 European Tour

The 1999 European Tour, titled as the 1999 PGA European Tour,^[1] was the 28th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

1999 European Tour season

Duration	14 January 1999 (1999-01-14) – 7 November 1999 (1999-11-07)
Number of official events	41
Most wins	Colin Montgomerie (5)
Order of Merit	Colin Montgomerie
Golfer of the Year	Colin Montgomerie
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sergio García
← 1998 2000 →

Changes for 1999

There were many changes from the previous season, with the addition of three new World Golf Championships, the Asian PGA Tour co-sanctioned Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open, the Estoril Open,^[2] the West of Ireland Golf Classic (also a Challenge Tour event),^[3] and the Scottish PGA Championship;^[4] and the loss of the Johnnie Walker Classic due to rescheduling from January to November, as well as the Cannes Open. The Open Novotel Perrier was also lost from the schedule as sponsors switched to support the Open de France; the Sarazen World Open, which had been discontinued as a result of the creation of the WGCs, was revived as a full tour event and took the dates on the calendar opposite the Cisco World Match Play Championship.^[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1999 season.^[6][7]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse	Winner[a]	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
17 Jan	Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship	South Africa	£400,000	Ernie Els (7)	24	AFR
24 Jan	Mercedes-Benz - Vodacom South African Open	South Africa	US$1,000,000	David Frost (2)	34	AFR[c]
31 Jan	Heineken Classic	Australia	A$800,000	Jarrod Moseley (1)	30	ANZ
7 Feb	Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open	Malaysia	US$750,000	Gerry Norquist (1)	24	ASA	New to European Tour
14 Feb	Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	US$1,300,000	David Howell (1)	42
20 Feb	Qatar Masters	Qatar	US$1,000,000	Paul Lawrie (2)	24
28 Feb	WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship	United States	US$5,000,000	Jeff Maggert (n/a)	76		New tournament World Golf Championship
7 Mar	Algarve Portuguese Open	Portugal	€550,000	Van Phillips (1)	24
14 Mar	Turespaña Masters - Open Andalucía	Spain	€500,000	Miguel Ángel Jiménez (5)	24
28 Mar	Madeira Island Open	Portugal	€500,000	Pedro Linhart (1)	24
11 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$4,000,000	José María Olazábal (19)	100		Major championship[d]
18 Apr	Estoril Open	Portugal	€550,000	Jean-François Remésy (1)	24		New tournament
25 Apr	Peugeot Open de España	Spain	€850,000	Jarmo Sandelin (3)	26
2 May	Fiat and Fila Italian Open	Italy	€1,000,000	Dean Robertson (1)	28
9 May	Novotel Perrier Open de France	France	€850,000	Retief Goosen (3)	24
16 May	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	£750,000	Colin Montgomerie (18)	38
24 May	Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe	Germany	€1,700,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	50
31 May	Volvo PGA Championship	England	€1,800,000	Colin Montgomerie (19)	64		Flagship event
6 Jun	Compass Group English Open	England	£600,000	Darren Clarke (5)	30
13 Jun	German Open	Germany	€1,000,000	Jarmo Sandelin (4)	24
20 Jun	Moroccan Open	Morocco	€500,000	Miguel Ángel Martín (3)	24
20 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$3,500,000	Payne Stewart (n/a)	100		Major championship
27 Jun	Compaq European Grand Prix	England	€900,000	David Park (1)	26
4 Jul	Murphy's Irish Open	Ireland	€1,400,000	Sergio García (1)	36
11 Jul	Standard Life Loch Lomond	Scotland	£1,000,000	Colin Montgomerie (20)	46
18 Jul	The Open Championship	Scotland	£2,000,000	Paul Lawrie (3)	100		Major championship
25 Jul	TNT Dutch Open	Netherlands	€1,100,000	Lee Westwood (7)	32
2 Aug	Smurfit European Open	Ireland	£1,200,000	Lee Westwood (8)	42
8 Aug	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	Sweden	€1,400,000	Colin Montgomerie (21)	28
15 Aug	West of Ireland Golf Classic	Ireland	€350,000	Costantino Rocca (5)	24	CHA	New tournament
15 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$3,500,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	100		Major championship
22 Aug	BMW International Open	Germany	€1,200,000	Colin Montgomerie (22)	26
29 Aug	WGC-NEC Invitational	United States	US$5,000,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	68		New tournament World Golf Championship
30 Aug	Scottish PGA Championship	Scotland	€350,000	Warren Bennett (1)	24		New tournament
5 Sep	Canon European Masters	Switzerland	€1,250,000	Lee Westwood (9)	26
12 Sep	Victor Chandler British Masters	England	£650,000	Bob May (1)	40
19 Sep	Trophée Lancôme	France	€1,100,000	Pierre Fulke (1)	42
3 Oct	Linde German Masters	Germany	€1,750,000	Sergio García (2)	46
17 Oct	Sarazen World Open	Spain	US$600,000	Thomas Bjørn (4)	24		New to European Tour
24 Oct	Belgacom Open	Belgium	€750,000	Robert Karlsson (3)	28
31 Oct	Volvo Masters	Spain	€1,400,000	Miguel Ángel Jiménez (6)	46		Tour Championship
7 Nov	WGC-American Express Championship	Spain	US$5,000,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	70		New tournament World Golf Championship

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	Ryder Cup	United States	n/a	Team USA	n/a	Team event
10 Oct	Alfred Dunhill Cup	Scotland	£1,000,000	Team Spain	n/a	Team event
17 Oct	Open Novotel Perrier	France	–	Cancelled	–	Team event
17 Oct	Cisco World Match Play Championship	England	£500,000	Colin Montgomerie	34	Limited-field event
21 Nov	World Cup of Golf	Malaysia	US$1,300,000	Mark O'Meara and Tiger Woods	n/a	Team event
	World Cup of Golf Individual Trophy		US$200,000	Tiger Woods	n/a

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 Euros.^[8][9]

Position	Player	Prize money (€)
1	Colin Montgomerie	1,822,880
2	Lee Westwood	1,320,804
3	Sergio García	1,317,693
4	Miguel Ángel Jiménez	1,148,289
5	Retief Goosen	1,059,984
6	Paul Lawrie	901,452
7	Pádraig Harrington	855,162
8	Darren Clarke	731,290
9	Jarmo Sandelin	629,131
10	Ángel Cabrera	622,852

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Colin Montgomerie	[10]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sergio García	[11]

See also

• 1999 European Seniors Tour

Notes

1. 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.
2. AFR − Southern Africa Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian PGA Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour.
3. Southern Africa Tour flagship event
4. Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.