1973 European Tour

Golf tour season

1973 European Tour seasonDuration| 28 March 1973 (1973-03-28) – 6 October 1973 (1973-10-06)

|

Number of official events| 21
Most wins|  Peter Oosterhuis (3)
Order of Merit|  Peter Oosterhuis
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year|  Pip Elson

← 1972

1974 →

The 1973 European Tour, titled as the 1973 PGA European Tour,[1] was the second season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 1973

[edit]

There were three changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Portuguese Open and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the loss of the John Player Trophy.[2]

## Schedule

[edit]

The following table lists official events during the 1973 season.[3][4][5]

Date  | Tournament  | Host country  | Purse
(£)  | Winner[a] | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

31 Mar  | Madrid Open | Spain  | 15,000  |  Germán Garrido (1)  |
7 Apr  | Portuguese Open | Portugal  | 15,000  |  Jaime Benito (1)  | New to European Tour
9 Apr  | Masters Tournament | United States  | US$224,825  |  Tommy Aaron (n/a)  | Major championship[b]
14 Apr  | Spanish Open | Spain  | 25,000  |  Neil Coles (2)  |
21 Apr  | Italian Open | Italy  | 25,750  |  Tony Jacklin (2)  |
28 Apr  | Piccadilly Medal | England  | 12,000  |  Peter Oosterhuis (2)  |
12 May  | Penfold-Bournemouth Tournament | England  | 8,000  |  Eddie Polland (1)  |
26 May  | Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship | England  | 20,000  |  Neil Coles (3)  |
3 Jun  | French Open | France  | 15,000  |  Peter Oosterhuis (3)  |
9 Jun  | Martini International | Scotland  | 10,000  |  Maurice Bembridge (1)  |
17 Jun  | U.S. Open | United States  | US$227,200  |  Johnny Miller (n/a)  | Major championship[b]
24 Jun  | Carroll's International | Ireland  | 15,000  |  Paddy McGuirk (1)  |
30 Jun  | Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open | Scotland  | 15,000  |  Graham Marsh (3)  |
14 Jul  | The Open Championship | Scotland  | 50,000  |  Tom Weiskopf (n/a)  | Major championship
22 Jul  | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden  | 19,410  |  Bob Charles (3)  | New tournament
29 Jul  | Swiss Open | Switzerland  | 17,850  |  Hugh Baiocchi (1)  |
5 Aug  | German Open | West Germany  | 17,210  |  Francisco Abreu (1)  |
12 Aug  | Dutch Open | Netherlands  | 18,700  |  Doug McClelland (1)  |
12 Aug  | PGA Championship | United States  | US$225,000  |  Jack Nicklaus (n/a)  | Major championship[b]
18 Aug  | Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf | England  | 15,000  |  Vin Baker (1)  |
25 Aug  | Viyella PGA Championship | England  | 15,000  |  Peter Oosterhuis (4)  |
8 Sep  | W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament | England  | 15,000  |  Charles Coody (n/a)  |
29 Sep  | John Player Classic | Scotland  | 58,000  |  Charles Coody (n/a)  |
6 Oct  | Dunlop Masters | Wales  | 15,000  |  Tony Jacklin (3)  |

### Unofficial events

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|

19 May  | Sumrie Better-Ball | Scotland  | 8,000  |  Neil Coles and
Bernard Hunt | Team event
16 Jun  | Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship | England  | 4,000  |  Bernard Gallacher |
20 Jul  | Lord Derby's Under-25 Match Play Championship | England  | 2,500  |  Brian Thompson |
1 Sep  | Double Diamond International | England  | 15,000  |  Team Scotland  | Team event
22 Sep  | Ryder Cup | Scotland  | n/a  |  Team USA  | Team event
13 Oct  | Piccadilly World Match Play Championship | England  | 30,000  |  Gary Player | Limited-field event
25 Nov  | World Cup | Spain  | US$4,200  |  Johnny Miller and
Jack Nicklaus | Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy | US$2,100  |  Johnny Miller |

## Order of Merit

[edit]

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[4][6][7]

Position | Player | Points | Prize money (£)

|
|
|

1 |  Peter Oosterhuis | 3,440 | 17,455
2 |  Maurice Bembridge | 2,980 | 10,773
3 |  Hugh Baiocchi | 2,904 | 11,870
4 |  Dale Hayes | 2,736 | 10,188
5 |  Brian Barnes | 2,676 | 9,778
6 |  Eddie Polland | 2,635 | 8,146
7 |  Tony Jacklin | 2,588 | 24,840
8 |  Bernard Gallacher | 2,561 | 8,676
9 |  Neil Coles | 2,437 | 14,748
10 |  Jack Newton | 2,399 | 7,939

## Awards

[edit]

Award | Winner | Ref.

|
|

Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Pip Elson | [8]

## Notes

[edit]

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. ^ a b c Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Tour History". European Tour. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
2. ^ Rodney, Bob (26 January 1973). "Top two for Player Classic". Daily Mirror. London, United Kingdom. p. 27. Retrieved 15 June 2020 - via British Newspaper Archive.
3. ^ "1973 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
4. ^ a b Simms, George (1974). John Player Golf Yearbook 1974. Queen Anne Press. pp. 82–136\. ISBN 0362001758.
5. ^ "£½m. to be won on PGA circuit". Glasgow Herald. 19 January 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 - via Google News Archive.
6. ^ "Oosty ahead of Bembridge". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 13 October 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 15 June 2020 - via British Newspaper Archive.
7. ^ "Brittiska Cirkusen | Order of Merit" [British Tour | Order of Merit]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8\. December 1973. p. 48. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
8. ^ "Cotton's guidance wins 'rookie' title for Elson". The Birmingham Post. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 5 October 1973. p. 15. Retrieved 21 October 2023 - via Newspapers.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

European Tour seasons

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template