2020 European Tour

The 2020 European Tour was the 49th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

2020 European Tour season

Duration	28 November 2019 (2019-11-28) – 13 December 2020 (2020-12-13)
Number of official events	38[a]
Most wins	Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2) John Catlin (2) Rasmus Højgaard (2) Sam Horsfield (2)
Race to Dubai	Lee Westwood
Golfer of the Year	Lee Westwood
Players' Player of the Year	Lee Westwood
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sami Välimäki
Graduate of the Year	Antoine Rozner
UK Swing Order of Merit	Rasmus Højgaard
← 2019 2021 →

Planned changes for 2020

Rule changes

In order to combat slow play, from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship onwards, regulations were introduced whereby a player would receive a one-stroke penalty for two bad times during a tournament.^[1]

Scheduling changes

With the addition of golf at the Olympic Games to the schedule in 2020, the Irish Open was moved to May from its previous date in July in order to avoid a clash with the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which had already been moved to avoid the Olympics. The Open de France was then scheduled opposite the WGC Invitational, and the British Masters was scheduled opposite the Olympics.^[2]

Tournament changes

• Format change: the Scandinavian Invitation (formerly the Scandinavian Masters) became the Scandinavian Mixed, a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour consisting of a field of 78 men and 78 women.
• No longer part of the schedule: ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, Belgian Knockout

COVID-19 pandemic impact

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the season, with many tournaments being rescheduled or cancelled. All four major championships were affected; The Open Championship was cancelled, and the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and PGA Championship were moved to dates much later in the year.

After a three-month hiatus following the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in early March, the tour resumed with a much changed schedule in July. Two dual-ranking events in Austria were followed by a six-tournament stretch in the United Kingdom and three tournaments in Spain and Portugal, with the rescheduled major events starting in late September.

On 13 August, it was announced that Alexander Lévy had become the first European Tour player to return a positive test for COVID-19. He and Romain Wattel, who had been in close contact with Lévy, were withdrawn from the field for the Celtic Classic.^[3]

In-season changes

Due to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the Honma Hong Kong Open, originally scheduled for 28 November – 1 December 2019 as a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour, was rescheduled for 9–12 January 2020 as an Asian Tour event without European Tour sanctioning.^[4][5]

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the remainder of the schedule.

• On 14 February, the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and the Volvo China Open were postponed.^[6] Sponsors subsequently confirmed that the Maybank Championship had been cancelled.^[7]
• On 6 March, the Magical Kenya Open was postponed.^[8]
• On 11 March, the Hero Indian Open was postponed,^[9] and the D+D Real Czech Masters was cancelled.^[10]
• On 13 March, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was cancelled.^[11]
• On 17 March, the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters was postponed.^[12]
• On 19 March, the GolfSixes Cascais was cancelled and the Made in Denmark was postponed.^[13] Organisers subsequently confirmed that the Made in Denmark had been cancelled.^[14]
• On 30 March, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was postponed.^[15]
• On 6 April, the Trophée Hassan II was postponed and the inaugural version of the Scandinavian Mixed was cancelled.^[16] The R&A also announced the cancellation of The Open Championship in 2020 and the seasons other major championships were rescheduled.^[17][18]
• On 16 April, the PGA Tour announced the rescheduling of several tournaments, including the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.^[19]
• On 17 April, the BMW International Open and Open de France were cancelled, and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open was postponed.^[20]
• On 1 May, the Omega European Masters was cancelled.^[21]
• On 28 May, the tour announced a revamp to the 2020 schedule including a 6-week "UK swing" in July and August; starting with the Betfred British Masters which was brought forward a week, finishing on 25 July. That would be followed by revivals of the English Open and the Wales Open, and three new tournaments: the English Championship, the Celtic Classic and the UK Championship. In addition to this, four Rolex Series events were given rescheduled dates, with the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship being pushed back into October, with the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai being played in December.^[22] It was also announced that the Porsche European Open had been cancelled.^[23]
• On 15 June, it was announced that both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour would return on 9 July with two consecutive dual-ranking events in Austria: the Austrian Open and the Euram Bank Open.^[24]
• On 3 July, it was announced that the Hero Indian Open had been cancelled.^[25]
• On 7 July, organisers announced the cancellation of the KLM Open.^[26]
• On 8 July, new dates were announced for the postponed Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters. The Portugal Masters was also rescheduled, with both tournaments being held during September.^[27] Later in the day, it was announced that the 43rd Ryder Cup matches had been postponed until 2021.^[28]
• On 10 July, new dates in November were announced for the Magical Kenya Open, originally scheduled for March.^[29] The Challenge Tour's Open de Portugal was also added to the schedule as a dual-ranking event; held in September following the Portugal Masters. The addition created a three event "Iberian Swing" starting with the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.^[30]
• On 13 July, the cancellation of the Mutuactivos Open de España was announced after suitable dates could not be found in the revised schedule.^[31]
• On 27 July, the cancellation of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was announced, with organisers citing complexities of accommodating the European Tour's COVID-19 safety plan given the event's scale as an international pro-am and its traditional use of three separate venues.^[32][33]
• On 14 August, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was rescheduled to 24–27 September with a change of venue to Galgorm Castle in Northern Ireland and a reduced prize fund, which also meant the loss of its status as a Rolex Series event.^[34]
• On 17 August, it was announced that the previously rescheduled Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship had both been forward one week, such that they would directly follow the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and create a second "UK swing".^[35]
• On 28 August, two Rolex Series events, the Turkish Airlines Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge, were cancelled and a third, the Italian Open, was rescheduled and downgraded. Three new tournaments were also announced, to take place in mid to late October and early November: the Scottish Championship, extending the second UK Swing to four tournaments, and the Cyprus Open and the Cyprus Classic, the first tour events to be held in Cyprus.^[36] On 12 October, the Cyprus Classic was renamed as the Cyprus Showdown with a novel elimination-style format.^[37]
• On 1 September, the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the WGC-HSBC Champions due to the COVID-19 pandemic was announced.^[38]
• On 10 September, the Magical Kenya Open was cancelled; it had previously been postponed in March and rescheduled to November.^[39]
• On 16 September, it was announced that the Australian PGA Championship had been postponed, with the tournament provisionally rescheduled for February 2021. As such, it no longer formed part of the 2020 season schedule.^[40] On 16 October, it was announced that it had been cancelled.^[41]
• On 20 October, it was announced that the Joburg Open had been added to the calendar; scheduled for the week following the Masters Tournament, it was last held in 2017.^[42]
• On 21 October, the Alfred Dunhill Championship was added to the schedule also, creating a "South African Swing"; it was the second edition of the tournament during the 2020 season, the first having been held in November/December 2019.^[43]
• On 22 October, the three-week "South African Swing" was completed with the addition of the South African Open to the schedule; it was also the second edition of the tournament during the 2020 season, the first having been held in January.^[44]
• On 9 November, a final adjustment to the schedule was made. The Golf in Dubai Championship was added as the penultimate event of the 2020 schedule, preceding the season ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.^[45]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2020 season.^[46]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse	R2D points	Winner[b]	OWGR points	Other tours[c]	Notes
1 Dec	Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	–	–	Removed[d]	–	ASA
1 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	South Africa	€1,500,000	2,750	Pablo Larrazábal (5)	19	AFR
8 Dec	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	€1,000,000	2,000	Rasmus Højgaard (1)	17	AFR, ASA
22 Dec	Australian PGA Championship	Australia	A$1,500,000	2,000	Adam Scott (11)	20	ANZ
12 Jan	South African Open	South Africa	R17,500,000	2,000	Branden Grace (9)	32	AFR[e]
19 Jan	Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship	UAE	US$7,000,000	7,000	Lee Westwood (25)	50		Rolex Series
26 Jan	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	US$3,250,000	4,250	Lucas Herbert (1)	48
2 Feb	Saudi International	Saudi Arabia	US$3,500,000	4,250	Graeme McDowell (11)	48
9 Feb	ISPS Handa Vic Open	Australia	A$1,600,000	2,000	Min Woo Lee (1)	20	ANZ
23 Feb	WGC-Mexico Championship	Mexico	US$10,500,000	9,000	Patrick Reed (3)	70		World Golf Championship
1 Mar	Oman Open	Oman	US$1,750,000	2,750	Sami Välimäki (1)	24
8 Mar	Commercial Bank Qatar Masters	Qatar	US$1,750,000	2,750	Jorge Campillo (2)	24
22 Mar	Hero Indian Open	India	–	–	Cancelled[f]	–	ASA
29 Mar	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	United States	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–		World Golf Championship
19 Apr	Maybank Championship	Malaysia	–	–	Cancelled[f]	–	ASA
26 Apr	Volvo China Open	China	–	–	Postponed[h]	–	ASA
24 May	Made in Denmark	Denmark	–	–	Cancelled[f]	–
7 Jun	Trophée Hassan II	Morocco	–	–	Cancelled[f]	–
14 Jun	Scandinavian Mixed	Sweden	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–	LET	Mixed event[i]
28 Jun	BMW International Open	Germany	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
5 Jul	Open de France	France	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
12 Jul[j]	Austrian Open	Austria	€500,000	1,000	Marc Warren (4)	18	CHA
18 Jul[j]	Euram Bank Open	Austria	€500,000	1,000	Joël Stalter (1)	18	CHA	New to European Tour
19 Jul	The Open Championship	England	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–		Major championship
25 Jul[k] 2 Aug	Betfred British Masters	England	€1,250,000	2,000	Renato Paratore (2)	24
2 Aug[j]	Hero Open	England	€1,000,000	2,000	Sam Horsfield (1)	24		New tournament
2 Aug[k] 5 Jul	WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational	United States	US$10,500,000	9,000	Justin Thomas (3)	76		World Golf Championship
9 Aug[j]	English Championship	England	€1,000,000	2,000	Andy Sullivan (4)	24		New tournament
9 Aug[k] 17 May	PGA Championship	United States	US$11,000,000	10,000	Collin Morikawa (1)	100		Major championship
16 Aug[j]	Celtic Classic	Wales	€1,000,000	2,000	Sam Horsfield (2)	24		New tournament
23 Aug	D+D Real Czech Masters	Czech Republic	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
23 Aug[j]	ISPS Handa Wales Open	Wales	€1,000,000	2,000	Romain Langasque (1)	24
30 Aug	Omega European Masters	Switzerland	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
30 Aug[j]	ISPS Handa UK Championship	England	€1,000,000	2,000	Rasmus Højgaard (2)	24		New tournament
6 Sep	Porsche European Open	Germany	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
6 Sep[k] 3 May	Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters	Spain	€1,250,000	2,000	John Catlin (1)	24
13 Sep[k] 25 Oct	Portugal Masters	Portugal	€1,000,000	2,000	George Coetzee (5)	24
20 Sep	KLM Open	Netherlands	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
20 Sep[j]	Open de Portugal	Portugal	€500,000	1,000	Garrick Higgo (1)	18	CHA
20 Sep[k] 21 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$12,500,000	10,000	Bryson DeChambeau (2)	100		Major championship
27 Sep[k] 31 May	Dubai Duty Free Irish Open	Northern Ireland	€1,250,000	2,000	John Catlin (2)	24		Rolex Series[l]
4 Oct	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	Scotland	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–		Pro-Am
4 Oct[k] 12 Jul	Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open	Scotland	US$7,000,000	7,000	Aaron Rai (2)	36		Rolex Series
11 Oct[k] 13 Sep	BMW PGA Championship	England	US$7,000,000	7,000	Tyrrell Hatton (5)	64		Flagship event[m]
18 Oct	Mutuactivos Open de España	Spain	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
18 Oct[j]	Scottish Championship	Scotland	€1,000,000	2,000	Adrián Otaegui (3)	24		New tournament
25 Oct[k] 11 Oct	Italian Open	Italy	€1,000,000	2,000	Ross McGowan (2)	24		Rolex Series[l]
1 Nov	WGC-HSBC Champions	China	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–		World Golf Championship
1 Nov[j]	Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open	Cyprus	€1,000,000	2,000	Callum Shinkwin (1)	24		New tournament
8 Nov	Turkish Airlines Open	Turkey	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–		Rolex Series
8 Nov[j]	Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown	Cyprus	€1,000,000	2,000	Robert MacIntyre (1)	24		New tournament
15 Nov 15 Mar	Magical Kenya Open	Kenya	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–
15 Nov[k] 12 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$11,500,000	10,000	Dustin Johnson (n/a)	100		Major championship
22 Nov[j]	Joburg Open	South Africa	R19,500,000	2,000	Joachim B. Hansen (1)	19	AFR
29 Nov[j]	Alfred Dunhill Championship	South Africa	R29,000,000	2,750	Christiaan Bezuidenhout (2)	32	AFR[e]
5 Dec[j]	Golf in Dubai Championship	UAE	US$1,200,000	2,000	Antoine Rozner (1)	24		New tournament
6 Dec	Australian PGA Championship	Australia	–	–	Cancelled[f]	–	ANZ
6 Dec 15 Nov	Nedbank Golf Challenge	South Africa	–	–	Cancelled[g]	–	AFR	Rolex Series
6 Dec[j]	South African Open	South Africa	R19,500,000	2,000	Christiaan Bezuidenhout (3)	19	AFR
13 Dec[k] 22 Nov	DP World Tour Championship, Dubai	UAE	US$8,000,000	12,000	Matt Fitzpatrick (6)	46		Tour Championship[m]

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	OWGR points	Notes
10 May	GolfSixes Cascais	Portugal	–	Cancelled[g]	n/a	Team event
2 Aug	Olympic Games	Japan	n/a	Postponed[n]	–	Limited-field event
27 Sep	Ryder Cup	United States	n/a	Postponed[n]	n/a	Team event

Location of tournaments

The tournament locations below represent the original schedule, before any changes due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Location of official tournaments of the 2020 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Rolex Series event Regular event

Location of official tournaments of the 2020 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 2020 European Tour events were as follows:^[48]

Finishing position		Total pts		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th		20th		30th		40th		50th		60th
Major championships		10,000		1,665	1,113	627	500	424	350	300	250	223	200		120		90		68		48		30
World Golf Championships		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)[o]		5,500		915	612	345	275	234	192	165	138	123	110		66		50		37		28		17
Regular tournament (Band 4)[p]		4,250		710	472	266	212	180	149	128	106	95	85		51		38		29		20		13
Regular tournament (Band 3)[q]		3,500		585	389	218	175	148	123	105	88	78	70		42		32		24		17		11
Regular tournament (Band 2)[r]		2,750		460	305	172	137	116	97	83	69	61	55		33		25		19		13		8
Regular tournament (Band 1)[s]		2,000		335	222	125	100	84	70	60	50	44	40		24		18		14		10		6
Dual-ranking event (Challenge Tour)		1,000		167	111	63	50	42	35	30	25	22	20		12		9		7		5		3
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.^[49][50]

Pos.	Player		Majors					WGCs					Rolex Series							Top 10s in other ET events				Total pts		Tmts		Money[t]
			Opn	PGA	USO	Mas		WGC Mex	WGC MP	WGC Inv	WGC Cha		Abu	Sco	BMW PGA	Tur	Ned	DPW TC		1	2	3						Reg. (€m)	Bon. ($k)
1	Westwood		C A N C E L L E D	•	T13 151	T38 69		T22 99	C A N C E L L E D	•	C A N C E L L E D		1st 1165	T19 80	T18 88	C A N C E L L E D	C A N C E L L E D	2nd 1335		T10 33				3,128		15		2.3	500
2	Fitzpatrick			CUT 0	CUT 0	T46 54		T37 63		T6 226			T2 523	T42 41	T7 180			1st 2000						3,110		10		3.5	300
3	Reed			T13 151	T13 151	T10 185		1st 1500		T47 48			•	•	T3 394			T3 676						3,104		8		3.0	200
4	Fleetwood			T29 89	CUT 0	T19 119		T18 110		T35 63			T2 523	2nd 780	T13 103			T10 215		T3 113				2,183		11		1.7	150
5	Morikawa			1st 1665	CUT 0	T44 61		T42 53		T20 103			•	•	•			T10 215						2,097		6		1.9	100
6	Perez			T22 105	CUT 0	T46 54		T53 34		T65 22			T2 523	T14 99	2nd 780			7th 359						2,073		14		1.6
7	Bezuidenhout			CUT 0	55th 40	T38 69		T29 75		T20 103			T59 21	CUT 0	T40 46			T14 157		2nd 472	1st 460	1st 335		1,875		17		1.1
8	Rai			•	•	•		•		•			CUT 0	1st 1165	CUT 0			T51 53		T10 35	2nd 222	3rd 125		1,741		17		1.3
9	Hatton			CUT 0	CUT 0	CUT 0		T6 270		T69 18			•	•	1st 1165			T8 284						1,737		7		1.4
10	Oosthuizen			T33 79	3rd 627	T23 110		T51 41		T6 226			5th 297	•	•			•		2nd 222				1,646		8		1.6

  Win

  Top 10

  Made cut

  Missed cut

• Did not play

UK Swing Order of Merit

With the return of the European Tour after the COVID-19 hiatus and as part of the new Golf for Good initiative – which underpinned all events for the remainder of the 2020 season – a mini Order of Merit ran for all six events in the "UK Swing", with the top ten players sharing an additional £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice.^[52] The top ten, not otherwise exempt, from the standings of the UK Swing Order of Merit after the first five events received entry into the 2020 U.S. Open.^[53]

Final standings

The UK Swing Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the UK Swing, calculated using a points-based system.^[52][54]

Pos.	Player	Event						Total pts	Tmts	Donation (£)
		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Rasmus Højgaard	2nd 222	T6 56	3rd 125	•	•	1st 335	738	4	60,000
2	Sam Horsfield	T10 36	1st 335	CUT 0	1st 335	T44 10	•	716	5	50,000
3	Andy Sullivan	T4 85	T41 12	1st 335	T47 9	•	T9 42	483	5	40,000
4	Thomas Detry	CUT 0	2nd 222	T56 7	2nd 222	•	•	451	4	30,000
5	Renato Paratore	1st 335	T28 18	T34 14	CUT 0	T27 17	•	384	5	20,000
6	Romain Langasque	T53 7	T57 6	T26 18	•	1st 335	CUT 0	367	5	10,000 (each)
7	Sami Välimäki	CUT 0	•	•	T6 56	2nd 222	•	278	3
8	Adrián Otaegui	T35 15	CUT 0	2nd 222	T14 27	T37 14	•	277	5
9	Justin Walters	CUT 0	CUT 0	CUT 0	T39 13	CUT 0	2nd 222	235	6
10	Matthew Jordan	T17 25	CUT 0	CUT 0	T47 9	T3 113	T19 23	170	6

  Win

  Top 10

  Made cut

  Missed cut

• Did not play

U.S. Open qualifiers

The leading players in the points standings following the ISPS Handa Wales Open, who qualified for 2020 U.S. Open, were as follows:^[55]

• Thomas Detry
• Justin Harding
• Rasmus Højgaard
• Sam Horsfield
• Romain Langasque
• Adrián Otaegui
• Renato Paratore
• Andy Sullivan
• Connor Syme
• Sami Välimäki

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Golfer of the Year	Lee Westwood	[56]
Players' Player of the Year (Seve Ballesteros Award)	Lee Westwood	[57]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	Sami Välimäki	[58]
Graduate of the Year	Antoine Rozner	[59]

See also

• 2019 in golf
• 2020 in golf
• 2020 European Senior Tour

Notes

1. A further 22 tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled, postponed or otherwise removed from the schedule.
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.
3. AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour; LET − Ladies European Tour.
4. Postponed due to protest violence;^[4] rescheduled to January 2020 without European Tour co-sanctioning.^[5]
5. Sunshine Tour flagship event
6. Initially postponed and then later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
7. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
8. Originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being rescheduled to December 2020 as a sole-sanctioned China Tour event.^[6][47]
9. Field of 78 men and 78 women playing from different sets of tees. Tour ranking and world ranking points based on finish among men's field only.
10. Tournament added to the schedule as part of changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
11. Rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
12. Tournament had Rolex Series event status removed following rescheduling with reduced prize money.
13. Also a Rolex Series tournament.
14. Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
15. Tournaments with purses ranging from $5,000,000 to $5,499,999.
16. Tournaments with purses ranging from $3,250,000 to $3,999,999.
17. Tournaments with purses ranging from $2,500,000 to $3,249,999.
18. Tournaments with purses ranging from $1,750,000 to $2,499,999.
19. Tournaments with purses ranging from $1,000,000 to $1,749,999.
20. In addition to tournament prize money, the top five point scorers received a share of a $1.25m bonus pool.^[51]