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1976 European Tour

Golf tour season

Field	Value
year	1976
tour	European Tour
regular_season	–
no_of_events	21
most_wins	ITA Baldovino Dassù (2)
SCO Sam Torrance (2)
honor1	Order of Merit
honoree1	ESP Seve Ballesteros
honor2	Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year
honoree2	ENG Mark James
prevseason	1975
nextseason	1977

SCO Sam Torrance (2) The 1976 European Tour, titled as the 1976 PGA Tournament Players' Division, was the fifth season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 1976

The season was made up of 21 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting tournaments that later became known as "Approved Special Events". The schedule included the major national opens around Europe, with the other tournaments mostly held in England and Scotland.

There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Greater Manchester Open and the Uniroyal International; along with non-counting events the Cacharel World Under-25 Championship and the Lancome Trophy; and the Benson & Hedges Festival being retitled as the Benson & Hedges International Open.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1976 season.

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse
(£)	Winner	Notes
11 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$254,852	USA Raymond Floyd (n/a)	Major championship
17 Apr	Portuguese Open	Portugal	15,000	ESP Salvador Balbuena (1)
24 Apr	Spanish Open	Spain	30,525	NIR Eddie Polland (3)
1 May	Madrid Open	Spain	18,500	ESP Francisco Abreu (2)
9 May	French Open	France	22,200	ZAF Vincent Tshabalala (1)
15 May	Piccadilly Medal	England	40,000	SCO Sam Torrance (1)
31 May	Penfold PGA Championship	England	50,000	ENG Neil Coles (5)
6 Jun	Kerrygold International Classic	Ireland	12,500	ENG Tony Jacklin (5)
12 Jun	Martini International	England	15,000	SCO Sam Torrance (2)
20 Jun	Greater Manchester Open	England	12,000	IRL John O'Leary (1)	New to European Tour
20 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$259,000	USA Jerry Pate (n/a)	Major championship
26 Jun	Uniroyal International	England	25,000	ENG Tommy Horton (3)	New tournament
10 Jul	The Open Championship	England	75,000	USA Johnny Miller (n/a)	Major championship
18 Jul	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	Sweden	38,600	ZAF Hugh Baiocchi (3)
25 Jul	Swiss Open	Switzerland	31,300	ESP Manuel Piñero (2)
8 Aug	Dutch Open	Netherlands	26,205	ESP Seve Ballesteros (1)
15 Aug	German Open	West Germany	23,100	Rhodesia Simon Hobday (1)
15 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$250,000	USA Dave Stockton (n/a)	Major championship
18 Aug	Double Diamond Individual Championship	Scotland	10,000	NZL Simon Owen (2)
29 Aug	Carroll's Irish Open	Ireland	35,000	USA Ben Crenshaw (n/a)
5 Sep	Sun Alliance Match Play Championship	England	20,000	SCO Brian Barnes (4)
25 Sep	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	40,000	AUS Graham Marsh (4)
2 Oct	Dunlop Masters	Wales	30,000	ITA Baldovino Dassù (1)
24 Oct	Italian Open	Italy	27,000	ITA Baldovino Dassù (2)

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)	Notes
22 May	Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball	England	12,000	IRL Eamonn Darcy and
IRL Christy O'Connor Jnr	Team event
5 Jun	Cacharel World Under-25 Championship	France	n/a	IRL Eamonn Darcy	New tournament
3 Jul	Phillip Morris International	France	n/a	USA Team USA	Team event
21 Aug	Double Diamond International	Scotland	25,000	ENG Team England	Team event
18 Sep
17 Jul	T.P.D. Under-25 Championship	England	5,000	ENG Howard Clark
9 Oct	Piccadilly World Match Play Championship	England	75,000	AUS David Graham	Limited-field event
17 Oct	Trophée Lancôme	France	US$40,000	ESP Seve Ballesteros	New to European Tour
12 Dec	World Cup	United States	US$4,200	ESP Seve Ballesteros and
ESP Manuel Piñero	Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy	US$2,100	MEX Ernesto Pérez Acosta

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.

Position	Player	Points	Prize money (£)
1	ESP Seve Ballesteros	21,495	39,504
2	IRL Eamonn Darcy	16,741	25,027
3	SCO Sam Torrance	16,627	20,917
4	ESP Manuel Piñero	16,474	19,946
5	ENG Tommy Horton	16,185	22,781
6	ENG Neil Coles	15,976	20,543
7	ENG Martin Foster	12,669	17,436
8	SCO Brian Barnes	12,256	23,350
9	ITA Baldovino Dassù	11,961	13,405
10	Rhodesia Simon Hobday	11,893	15,196

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	ENG Mark James

Notes

References

"Tour History". European Tour.
(12 December 1975). "Cold shoulder for Scots fans". Aberdeen Press and Journal.
Ward-Thomas, Pat. (12 December 1975). "Prize increases put £1m within reach". The Guardian.
"1976 Tournament schedule". European Tour.
Simms, George. (1977). "World of Golf 1977". Macdonald and Jane's.
(27 October 1976). "Sevvy tops table". Glasgow Herald.
(January 1977). "Order-of-Merit Europa 1976".
(1 October 1976). "Rookie James has found his professional touch pays off". The Birmingham Post.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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