1972 European Tour

The 1972 European Tour was the first official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.

The Order of Merit was won by England's Peter Oosterhuis.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1972 European Tour schedule which was made up of 20 tournaments, which included the major national opens around Europe. The other tournaments were mostly held in England and Scotland.

Dates Tournament Host country Winner
6–9 Apr Masters Tournament* United States United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a)
12–15 Apr Spanish Open Spain Spain Antonio Garrido (1)
19–22 Apr Madrid Open Spain Republic of Ireland Jimmy Kinsella (1)
24 27 Apr Piccadilly Medal England England Tommy Horton (1)
11–13 May Penfold Bournemouth Tournament England England Peter Oosterhuis (1)
25–27 May John Player Trophy England England Ross Whitehead (1)
8–10 Jun Martini International England Scotland Brian Barnes (1)
17–20 Jun U.S. Open* United States United States Jack Nicklaus (n/a)
22–25 Jun Carroll's International Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr (1)
28 Jun–1 Jul Sunbeam Electric Scottish Open Scotland England Neil Coles (1)
12–15 Jul The Open Championship Scotland United States Lee Trevino (n/a)
20–23 Jul French Open France United States Barry Jaeckel (1)
27–30 Jul Swiss Open Switzerland Australia Graham Marsh (1)
3–6 Aug PGA Championship* United States South Africa Gary Player (n/a)
3 6 Aug German Open West Germany Australia Graham Marsh (2)
10–13 Aug Dutch Open Netherlands Australia Jack Newton (1)
16–19 Aug Benson & Hedges Festival England Australia Jack Newton (2)
23–26 Aug Viyella PGA Championship England England Tony Jacklin (1)
11–16 Sept Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship England England John Garner (1)
20–23 Sept W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament Scotland Australia Peter Thomson (1)
27–30 Sept John Player Classic Scotland New Zealand Bob Charles (1)
4–7 Oct Dunlop Masters England New Zealand Bob Charles (2)
12–15 Oct Italian Open Italy Scotland Norman Wood (1)

*The three majors played in the United States were not official money events, but wins in them were retroactively made official.

Order of Merit

The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was based on a points system, which meant that some players could finish lower than others despite accumulating more prize money.

Position Player Country Prize money (£)
1 Peter Oosterhuis  England 18,525
2 Guy Hunt  England 9,808
3 Brian Huggett  Wales 10,266
4 Peter Townsend  England 8,592
5 Jack Newton  Australia 8,899
6 John Garner  England 8,005
7 Peter Butler  England 8,375
8 Brian Barnes  Scotland 9,103
9 Neil Coles  England 8,629
10 Clive Clark  England 5,831

See also

External links