2019 European Tour

The 2019 European Tour was the 48th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

2019 European Tour season

Duration	22 November 2018 (2018-11-22) – 24 November 2019 (2019-11-24)
Number of official events	46
Most wins	Jon Rahm (3) Bernd Wiesberger (3)
Race to Dubai	Jon Rahm
Golfer of the Year	Jon Rahm
Players' Player of the Year	Jon Rahm
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Robert MacIntyre
Graduate of the Year	Robert MacIntyre
← 2018 2020 →

Changes for 2019

Rule changes

From January 1, 2019 onwards, tournaments followed the new rules released by the USGA and The R&A which were designed to simplify the rule book and speed up the pace of play. The most noticeable changes included golfers being able to putt on the green with the flag remaining in, and drops being made from knee rather than shoulder height.^[1]

Scheduling changes

As announced in 2017, the PGA Championship was moved from August to May, starting in 2019. The PGA of America cited the addition of golf to the Summer Olympics, as well as cooler weather enabling a wider array of options for host courses, as reasoning for the change. It was also believed that the PGA Tour wished to re-align its season so that its FedEx Cup Playoffs would not have to compete with the start of the NFL season in early September, since both United States broadcast partners (CBS and NBC) are NFL broadcast partners.

Consequently, the European Tour moved their flagship event; the BMW PGA Championship, from the congested May date to late September, four weeks after the end of the 2018–19 PGA Tour season. It was hoped the date would attract more top names.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Changes to the Race to Dubai

The number of Race to Dubai points available in the Final Series (last three events of the season) was increased, and the field size reduced. The aim was to make more players still have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai entering the Final Series. In addition, although the prize money was not increased, the bonus pool of US$5,000,000 would now be split among the top five players rather than the top ten. The money saved from restricting field sizes was used solely to increase the first prizes, which means that the tournaments would not have the standard prize fund distribution, and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai would have the largest tournament first prize in golf of US$3,000,000.^[7]

Tournament changes

• New tournament: Saudi International.
• Returning tournament: Alfred Dunhill Championship (not held during the 2018 season due to course renovations)
• Tournaments on the European Tour schedule for the first time: ISPS Handa Vic Open, Kenya Open.
• Changes to the Rolex Series: the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship replaced the Open de France.
• No longer part of the schedule: Joburg Open, Tshwane Open, Sicilian Open, Fiji International, Shot Clock Masters.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2019 season.^[8]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse	R2D points	Winner[a]	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
25 Nov	Honma Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	US$2,000,000	2,750	Aaron Rai (1)	30	ASA
2 Dec	Australian PGA Championship	Australia	A$1,500,000	2,000	Cameron Smith (n/a)	20	ANZ
2 Dec	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	€1,000,000	2,000	Kurt Kitayama (1)	17	AFR, ASA
9 Dec	South African Open	South Africa	R17,500,000	2,000	Louis Oosthuizen (9)	32	AFR,[c] ASA
16 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	South Africa	€1,500,000	2,750	David Lipsky (2)	23	AFR
19 Jan	Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship	UAE	US$7,000,000	7,000	Shane Lowry (4)	48		Rolex Series
27 Jan	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	US$3,250,000	4,250	Bryson DeChambeau (1)	46
3 Feb	Saudi International	Saudi Arabia	US$3,500,000	4,250	Dustin Johnson (n/a)	48		New tournament
10 Feb	ISPS Handa Vic Open	Australia	A$1,500,000	2,000	David Law (1)	20	ANZ	New to European Tour
17 Feb	ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth	Australia	A$1,600,000	2,000	Ryan Fox (1)	20	ANZ, ASA
24 Feb	WGC-Mexico Championship	Mexico	US$10,250,000	9,000	Dustin Johnson (n/a)	72		World Golf Championship
3 Mar	Oman Open	Oman	US$1,750,000	2,750	Kurt Kitayama (2)	24
10 Mar	Commercial Bank Qatar Masters	Qatar	US$1,750,000	2,750	Justin Harding (1)	24
17 Mar	Magical Kenya Open	Kenya	€1,100,000	2,000	Guido Migliozzi (1)	24		New to European Tour
24 Mar	Maybank Championship	Malaysia	US$3,000,000	3,500	Scott Hend (3)	24	ASA
31 Mar	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	United States	US$10,250,000	9,000	Kevin Kisner (1)	76		World Golf Championship
31 Mar	Hero Indian Open	India	US$1,750,000	2,750	Stephen Gallacher (4)	19	ASA
14 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$11,000,000	10,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	100		Major championship
28 Apr	Trophée Hassan II	Morocco	€2,500,000	3,500	Jorge Campillo (1)	24
5 May	Volvo China Open	China	CN¥20,000,000	3,500	Mikko Korhonen (2)	24	ASA
12 May	Betfred British Masters	England	£3,000,000	4,250	Marcus Kinhult (1)	26
19 May	PGA Championship	United States	US$11,000,000	10,000	Brooks Koepka (5)	100		Major championship
26 May	Made in Denmark	Denmark	€3,000,000	4,250	Bernd Wiesberger (5)	24
2 Jun	Belgian Knockout	Belgium	€1,000,000	2,000	Guido Migliozzi (2)	24
16 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$12,500,000	10,000	Gary Woodland (n/a)	100		Major championship
23 Jun	BMW International Open	Germany	€2,000,000	2,750	Andrea Pavan (2)	26
30 Jun	Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters	Spain	€3,000,000	4,250	Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1)	24
7 Jul	Dubai Duty Free Irish Open	Ireland	US$7,000,000	7,000	Jon Rahm (4)	42		Rolex Series
14 Jul	Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open	Scotland	US$7,000,000	7,000	Bernd Wiesberger (6)	48		Rolex Series
21 Jul	The Open Championship	Northern Ireland	US$10,750,000	10,000	Shane Lowry (5)	100		Major championship
28 Jul	WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational	United States	US$10,250,000	9,000	Brooks Koepka (6)	72		World Golf Championship
18 Aug	D+D Real Czech Masters	Czech Republic	€1,000,000	2,000	Thomas Pieters (4)	24
25 Aug	Scandinavian Invitation	Sweden	€1,500,000	2,750	Erik van Rooyen (1)	24
1 Sep	Omega European Masters	Switzerland	€2,500,000	3,500	Sebastian Söderberg (1)	38
8 Sep	Porsche European Open	Germany	€2,000,000	2,750	Paul Casey (14)	26
15 Sep	KLM Open	Netherlands	€2,000,000	2,750	Sergio García (16)	24
22 Sep	BMW PGA Championship	England	US$7,000,000	7,000	Danny Willett (7)	64		Flagship event[d]
29 Sep	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	Scotland	US$5,000,000	5,500	Victor Perez (1)	50		Pro-Am
6 Oct	Mutuactivos Open de España	Spain	€1,500,000	2,750	Jon Rahm (5)	24
13 Oct	Italian Open	Italy	US$7,000,000	7,000	Bernd Wiesberger (7)	44		Rolex Series
20 Oct	Amundi Open de France	France	€1,600,000	2,750	Nicolas Colsaerts (3)	24
27 Oct	Portugal Masters	Portugal	€1,500,000	2,750	Steven Brown (1)	24
3 Nov	WGC-HSBC Champions	China	US$10,250,000	9,000	Rory McIlroy (14)	60		World Golf Championship
10 Nov	Turkish Airlines Open	Turkey	US$7,000,000	9,000	Tyrrell Hatton (4)	42		Rolex Series Limited-field event
17 Nov	Nedbank Golf Challenge	South Africa	US$7,500,000	10,000	Tommy Fleetwood (5)	36	AFR	Rolex Series Limited-field event
24 Nov	DP World Tour Championship, Dubai	UAE	US$8,000,000	12,000	Jon Rahm (6)	52		Tour Championship[d]

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	Winners	OWGR points	Notes
8 Jun	GolfSixes Cascais	Portugal	€1,000,000	Thongchai Jaidee and Phachara Khongwatmai	n/a	Team event

Location of tournaments

Location of official tournaments of the 2019 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Rolex Series event Regular event

Location of official tournaments of the 2019 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Rolex Series event Regular event South Africa United Arab Emirates

Race to Dubai

Points distribution

The distribution of Race to Dubai points for 2019 European Tour events were as follows:^[9]

Finishing position		Total pts		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th		20th		30th		40th		50th		60th
Major championships & Nedbank Golf Challenge		10,000		1,665	1,113	627	500	424	350	300	250	223	200		120		90		68		48		30
World Golf Championships & Turkish Airlines Open		9,000		1,500	1,000	565	450	381	315	270	225	201	180		108		81		61		43		27
Rolex Series		7,000		1,165	780	438	350	297	245	210	175	156	140		84		63		47		33		21
Regular tournament (Band 6)[e]		5,500		915	612	345	275	234	192	165	138	123	110		66		50		37		28		17
Regular tournament (Band 4)[f]		4,250		710	472	266	212	180	149	128	106	95	85		51		38		29		20		13
Regular tournament (Band 3)[g]		3,500		585	389	218	175	148	123	105	88	78	70		42		32		24		17		11
Regular tournament (Band 2)[h]		2,750		460	305	172	137	116	97	83	69	61	55		33		25		19		13		8
Regular tournament (Band 1)[i]		2,000		335	222	125	100	84	70	60	50	44	40		24		18		14		10		6
DP World Tour Championship		12,000		2,000	1,335	752	600	509	420	359	300	267	240		144		108		82		58		36

Final standings

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.^[10][11]

Pos.	Player		Majors					WGCs					Rolex Series									Top 10s in other ET events						Total pts		Tmts		Money[j]
			Mas	PGA	USO	Opn		WGC Mex	WGC MP	WGC Inv	WGC Cha		Abu	Ire	Sco	BMW PGA	Ita	Tur	Ned	DPW TC		1	2	3	4	5						Reg. (€m)	Bon. ($m)
1	Rahm		T9 202	CUT 0	T3 475	T11 163		T45 49	T24 79	7th 270	•		•	1st 1165	•	2nd 780	•	•	•	1st 2000		T2 256	1st 460					5,898		13		6.2	2.0
2	Fleetwood		T36 73	T48 47	T65 25	2nd 1113		T19 104	T24 78	T4 382	T53 35		T42 41	T23 75	•	T60 20	•	•	1st 1665	2nd 1335		T8 81	T8 75	T5 170				5,415		18		5.2	1.2
3	Wiesberger		•	•	76th 17	T32 76		•	•	•	T49 42		T42 41	T2 609	1st 1165	T17 89	1st 1165	49th 45	T3 517	T28 104		1st 710	8th 50	5th 116				4,906		29		4.0	0.7
4	Lowry		CUT 0	T8 198	T28 94	1st 1665		T62 24	T24 79	•	T43 54		1st 1165	T34 52	•	T11 120	CUT 0	62nd 24	•	T12 200								3,614		14		3.6	0.6
5	Fitzpatrick		T21 107	T41 60	T12 162	T20 107		T19 82	T24 25	T4 382	7th 270		•	•	T14 97	T46 36	2nd 780	•	T10 185	9th 267		2nd 305	2nd 305	2nd 305				3,588		20		2.8	0.5
6	McIlroy[k]		T21 107	T8 198	T9 202	CUT 0		2nd 1000	T9 155	T4 382	1st 1500		•	•	T34 50	T9 148	•	•	•	4th 600		T2 233						3,364		13		3.1
7	Wallace		CUT 0	T3 517	T12 162	T51 41		T33 72	T40 48	T27 76	T60 25		T16 89	T55 24	T14 96	T41 43	T7 180	50th 41	T44 57	T28 104		2nd 472	T2 317	T3 105	3rd 172	T8 55		2,851		27		2.4
8	Oosthuizen		T29 90	T60 28	T7 275	T20 106		T25 93	T5 298	T20 104	3rd 565		4th 350	T46 37	•	•	•	•	T6 325	T20 131		1st 335	T7 76					2,814		14		2.3
9	Hatton		T56 41	T48 47	T21 111	T6 281		T19 104	T9 155	T43 52	T14 143		CUT 0	CUT 0	T14 97	CUT 0	T18 83	1st 1500	•	46th 67								2,799		18		2.9
10	van Rooyen		•	T8 198	T43 61	T20 107		T36 67	•	•	T38 61		T32 53	CUT 0	T14 97	T14 103	T10 122	T2 542	T30 80	T28 104		T2 122	T6 77	T2 261	T5 62	1st 460		2,766		29		2.0

  Win

  Top 10

  Made cut

  Missed cut

• Did not play

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Jon Rahm	[16]
Players' Player of the Year (Seve Ballesteros Award)	Jon Rahm	[17]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Robert MacIntyre	[18]
Graduate of the Year	Robert MacIntyre	[19]

See also

• 2018 in golf
• 2019 in golf
• 2019 Challenge Tour
• 2019 European Senior Tour
• 2019 Ladies European 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.
2. AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour.
3. Sunshine Tour flagship event
4. Also a Rolex Series tournament.
5. Tournaments with purses ranging from $5,000,000 to $5,499,999.
6. Tournaments with purses ranging from $3,250,000 to $3,999,999.
7. Tournaments with purses ranging from $2,500,000 to $3,249,999.
8. Tournaments with purses ranging from $1,750,000 to $2,499,999.
9. Tournaments with purses ranging from $1,000,000 to $1,749,999.
10. In addition to tournament prize money, the top five point scorers received a share of a $5m bonus pool.^[12][13]
11. McIlroy was not a European Tour member during the WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and the Masters Tournament. Points he earned in these events did not count towards his Race to Dubai ranking.^[14][15]