| Year: | 1991 |
| Tour: | European Tour |
| Regular Season: | – |
| No Of Events: | 34 |
| Most Wins: | Ian Woosnam (3) |
| Honor1: | Order of Merit |
| Honoree1: |  Seve Ballesteros |
| Honor3: | Golfer of the Year |
| Honoree3: | Seve Ballesteros |
| Honor4: | Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |
| Honoree4: |  Per-Ulrik Johansson |
| Prevseason: | 1990 |
| Nextseason: | 1992 |
The 1991 European Tour, titled as the 1991 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, that was announced in May 1987.[1]
There were several changes from the previous season, with the return of both the Catalan Open and the Jersey Open; the addition of the Girona Open; the loss of the Tenerife Open; and the Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the PLM Open were merged to create the Scandinavian Masters.[2]
After provisionally being scheduled for 14–17 October, the Portuguese Open was moved to 21–24 March, taking the venue and dates of the Atlantic Open, which was lost from the calendar.[3] Also before the season started, three more tournaments were removed from the schedule; the Dubai Desert Classic was cancelled due to the Gulf War, the El Bosque Open was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship, and the AGF Open was cancelled as sponsors sought to replace the event's promotion company.[4] These changes resulted in a reduction to 34 counting tournaments for the Order of Merit.
The following table lists official events during the 1991 season.[5]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (£) | Winner | OWGR points | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | – | Cancelled | – | |||
| El Bosque Open | Spain | – | Cancelled | – | |||
| 24 Feb | Girona Open | Spain | 250,000 | Steven Richardson (1) | 24 | New tournament | |
| 3 Mar | Fujitsu Mediterranean Open | France | 400,000 | Ian Woosnam (17) | 38 | ||
| 10 Mar | Open de Baleares | Spain | 275,000 |  Gavan Levenson (2) | 30 | ||
| 17 Mar | Open Catalonia | Spain | 300,000 | José María Olazábal (10) | 32 | ||
| Vinho Verde Atlantic Open | Portugal | – | Cancelled | – | |||
| 24 Mar | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 275,000 | Steven Richardson (2) | 16 | ||
| 31 Mar | Volvo Open di Firenze | Italy | 200,000 | Anders Forsbrand (2) | 16 | ||
| AGF Open | France | – | Cancelled | – | |||
| 14 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$1,350,000 | Ian Woosnam (18) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 14 Apr | Jersey European Airways Open | Jersey | 200,000 | Sam Torrance (14) | 16 | ||
| 21 Apr | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 400,000 |  Bernhard Langer (24) | 52 | ||
| 28 Apr | Madrid Open | Spain | 275,000 | Andrew Sherborne (1) | 20 | ||
| 5 May | Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open | France | 350,000 | David Feherty (4) | 24 | ||
| 12 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 350,000 |  Eduardo Romero (3) | 48 | ||
| 19 May | Lancia Martini Italian Open | Italy | 325,000 |  Craig Parry (3) | 42 | ||
| 27 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | 500,000 | Seve Ballesteros (44) | 64 | Flagship event | |
| 2 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 450,000 | Seve Ballesteros (45) | 42 | ||
| 9 Jun | Murphy's Cup | England | 350,000 |  Tony Johnstone (3) | 34 | ||
| 16 Jun | Renault Belgian Open | Belgium | 250,000 | Per-Ulrik Johansson (1) | 16 | ||
| 16 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$1,300,000 |  Payne Stewart (n/a) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 23 Jun | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 375,000 | Nick Faldo (22) | 48 | ||
| 30 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | 400,000 | Eduardo Romero (4) | 42 | ||
| 6 Jul | Torras Monte Carlo Open | France | 400,000 | Ian Woosnam (19) | 44 | ||
| 13 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | 500,000 | Craig Parry (4) | 56 | ||
| 21 Jul | The Open Championship | England | 900,000 | Ian Baker-Finch (2) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 28 Jul | Heineken Dutch Open | Netherlands | 500,000 | Payne Stewart (n/a) | 44 | ||
| 4 Aug | Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | 600,000 | Colin Montgomerie (2) | 48 | New tournament | |
| 11 Aug | European Pro-Celebrity | England | 250,000 | Paul Broadhurst (2) | 16 | Pro-Am | |
| 11 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$1,350,000 | John Daly (1) | 100 | Major championship | |
| 18 Aug | NM English Open | England | 450,000 | David Gilford (1) | 30 | ||
| 25 Aug | Volvo German Open | Germany | 525,000 | Mark McNulty (11) | 30 | ||
| 1 Sep | GA European Open | England | 500,000 | Mike Harwood (5) | 52 | ||
| 8 Sep | Canon European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 450,000 | Jeff Hawkes (1) | 36 | ||
| 15 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 450,000 |  Frank Nobilo (2) | 56 | Limited-field event | |
| 22 Sep | Epson Grand Prix of Europe | Wales | 450,000 | José María Olazábal (11) | 38 | Limited-field event | |
| 29 Sep | Mitsubishi Austrian Open | Austria | 250,000 | Mark Davis (1) | 16 | ||
| 6 Oct | Mercedes German Masters | Germany | 500,000 | Bernhard Langer (25) | 50 | ||
| 13 Oct | BMW International Open | Germany | 400,000 | Sandy Lyle (16) | 38 | ||
| 27 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | 600,000 | Rodger Davis (6) | 52 | Tour Championship |
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) | OWGR points | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep | Equity & Law Challenge | England | 150,000 | Brian Marchbank | n/a | ||
| 29 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a | Team USA | n/a | Team event | |
| 13 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,700,000 | Team Sweden | n/a | Team event | |
| 20 Oct | Toyota World Match Play Championship | England | 500,000 | Seve Ballesteros | 48 | Limited-field event | |
| 3 Nov | World Cup | Italy | US$1,100,000 | Anders Forsbrand and Per-Ulrik Johansson | n/a | Team event | |
| World Cup Individual Trophy | Ian Woosnam | n/a | |||||
| 10 Nov | Benson & Hedges Trophy | Spain | 200,000 | Helen Alfredsson and Anders Forsbrand | n/a | Team event | |
| 10 Nov | Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship | Australia | US$1,150,000 | Team Europe | n/a | Team event | |
| 22 Dec | Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship | Jamaica | US$2,500,000 | Fred Couples | 64 | Limited-field event |
The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[6] [7]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 545,353 | ||
| 2 | 393,155 | ||
| 3 | 372,703 | ||
| 4 | 343,575 | ||
| 5 | 328,116 | ||
| 6 | 317,441 | ||
| 7 | 302,270 | ||
| 8 | 257,433 | ||
| 9 | 249,240 | ||
| 10 | 245,892 |
| Award | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| [8] | |||
| [9] |