English Open

English Open
Tournament information
Location England
Established 1979
Course(s) St. Mellion
Tour(s) European Tour
Format Stroke play
Prize fund 1,000,000
Month played August
Tournament record score
Aggregate 268 Darren Clarke (1999)
To par −20 (as above)
Final champion
Northern Ireland Darren Clarke

The English Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. In 2009, it was due to be played over the Jack Nicklaus designed Signature Course at the St. Mellion International Resort in Cornwall, after a six-year hiatus, but its return to the schedule had to be postponed for at least two years after developers ran into financial difficulties.[1]

In most countries where golf is played there is a national open, but in England this role was effectively filled by The Open Championship, sometimes referred to as the "British Open". The English Open was founded in 1979 as the Lada English Golf Classic, and was held until 1983 at The Belfry. After a five-year absence, the tournament returned in 1988 as the English Open. The first event was held at Royal Birkdale, before moving back to The Belfry until 1993 when it moved to the Forest of Arden.

Aside from three years at Hanbury Manor, the English Open remained at the Forest of Arden until the tournament was cancelled following the 2002 season as part of long term plans for the European Tour to expand globally, by reducing the number of tournaments held in Europe, especially the United Kingdom. In the tour's first official season in 1972 12 out of 20 events were staged in the UK, but by 2005 this was down to 8 out of 47.

The English Open was due to return to the European Tour schedule in 2009, under a five-year deal, initially as an alternate event to the PGA Championship, one of professional golf's majors.[2] However early in 2009, the revival was postponed until 2011 at the earliest, after developers ran into financial problems, reportedly as a result of the ongoing recession.[1] In March 2011 it was announced that the event had been cancelled due to insufficient sponsorship revenue having been raised by the organisers.[3]

Only two players have won the tournament more than once; Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland with three victories, and England's Mark James with two.

Winners

YearWinnerCountryScoreTo parMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
Compass Group English Open
2002 Darren Clarke (3)  Northern Ireland 271 −17 3 strokes Denmark Søren Hansen
2001 Peter O'Malley  Australia 275 −13 1 stroke France Raphaël Jacquelin
2000 Darren Clarke (2)  Northern Ireland 275 −13 1 stroke New Zealand Michael Campbell
England Mark James
1999 Darren Clarke  Northern Ireland 268 −20 2 strokes England John Bickerton
National Car Rental English Open
1998 Lee Westwood  England 271 −17 2 strokes Australia Greg Chalmers
Sweden Olle Karlsson
Alamo English Open
1997 Per-Ulrik Johansson  Sweden 269 −19 2 strokes Sweden Dennis Edlund
1996 Robert Allenby  Australia 278 −10 1 stroke England Ross McFarlane
Scotland Colin Montgomerie
Murphy's English Open
1995 Philip Walton  Ireland 274 −14 Playoff Scotland Colin Montgomerie
1994 Colin Montgomerie  Scotland 274 −14 1 stroke England Barry Lane
1993 Ian Woosnam  Wales 269 −19 2 strokes Italy Costantino Rocca
1992 Vicente Fernández  Argentina 283 −5 1 stroke Sweden Per-Ulrik Johansson
Sweden Fredrik Lindgren
NM English Open
1991 David Gilford  England 278 −10 2 strokes England Roger Chapman
1990 Mark James (2)  England 284 −4 Playoff Scotland Sam Torrance
1989 Mark James  England 279 −9 1 stroke Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy
Australia Craig Parry
Scotland Sam Torrance
English Open
1988 Howard Clark  England 279 −9 3 strokes England Peter Baker
1984–87: No tournament
State Express English Classic
1983 Hugh Baiocchi  South Africa 279 −9 Playoff Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy
United States Mike Sullivan
1982 Greg Norman  Australia 279 −13 1 stroke Scotland Brian Marchbank
1981 Rodger Davis  Australia 283 −5 2 strokes Australia Greg Norman
Mazda Cars English Classic
1980 Manuel Piñero  Spain 286 −2 1 stroke Scotland Sandy Lyle
Lada English Golf Classic
1979 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 286 −2 6 strokes England Neil Coles
South Africa Simon Hobday

References

  1. 1 2 "Crunch delays golf championships". BBC News. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  2. "The English Open to be Played at St Mellion from 2009". PGA European Tour. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  3. "English Open at St Mellion cancelled over lack of funds". BBC Sport. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
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