14 Facts About European Tour

The European Tour was established by the British-based Professional Golfers' Association through the 1970s, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984.

PGA European Tour is a golfer-controlled organisation whose primary purpose is to maximise the income of tournament golfers.

PGA European Tour is the lead partner in Ryder Cup Europe, a joint venture including the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland and PGA of Europe that operates the Ryder Cup Matches in cooperation with the PGA of America.

In 1984, the PGA European Tour became independent of The Professional Golfers' Association.

European Tour has always been sensitive to the risk that its best players will leave to play on the PGA Tour for many reasons.

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The PGA Tour usually offers higher purses and European players want to increase their chances of glory in the three majors played in the US by playing on more US -style courses to acclimate themselves.

However, the second-tier Challenge European Tour has visited Central and Eastern Europe somewhat more frequently.

In 1995, the European Tour began a policy of co-sanctioning tournaments with other PGA Tours, by endorsing the South African PGA Championship on the Southern African Tour.

In 1998, the European Tour added the three US majors – the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship and the US Open – to its official schedule.

The leading European Tour players had all been competing in them for many years, but now their prize money counted towards the Order of Merit, which sometimes made a great deal of difference to the end-of-season rankings.

Since the minimum number of events that a player must play to retain membership of the European Tour was eleven, the addition of the majors and WGCs meant that players could potentially become members, or retain membership, of the tour by playing just four other events.

European Tour is considered the second most important tour in men's golf, behind the United States-based PGA Tour, but retains significantly higher standing than other leading golf tours around the world.

In simple terms, the European Tour loses money in non-Ryder Cup years, makes a tidy profit in years the event is played in the United States, and then hits the lottery in years the tournament is staged in Europe.

European Tour Golfer of the Year, since 2009 official known as The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Year is an award handed by a panel comprising members of the Association of Golf Writers and commentators from television and radio.