2003 European Tour Explained

The 2003 European Tour was the 32nd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2003

There were four new tournaments to the European Tour in 2003, the Nordic Open^[1] and three dual-ranking events, the Aa St Omer Open, BMW Russian Open and Mallorca Classic. Lost from the tour schedule were the English Open, Great North Open and the dual-ranking North West of Ireland Open.^[2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2003 season.^[3]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse	Winner	OWGR points	Other tours	Notes
24 Nov	BMW Asian Open	Taiwan	US$1,500,000	Pádraig Harrington (6)	16
1 Dec	Omega Hong Kong Open	Hong Kong	US$700,000	Freddie Jacobson (1)	16
12 Jan	South African Airways Open	South Africa	£500,000	Trevor Immelman (1)	32
19 Jan	Dunhill Championship	South Africa	£500,000	Mark Foster (1)	18
26 Jan	Caltex Masters	Singapore	US$900,000	Zhang Lianwei (1)	20
2 Feb	Heineken Classic	Australia	A$2,000,000	Ernie Els (12)	30
9 Feb	ANZ Championship	Australia	A$1,750,000	Paul Casey (2)	30
16 Feb	Johnnie Walker Classic	Australia	£1,000,000	Ernie Els (13)	44
23 Feb	Carlsberg Malaysian Open	Malaysia	US$1,100,000	Arjun Atwal (2)	20
2 Mar	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	United States	US$6,000,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	76		World Golf Championship
9 Mar	Dubai Desert Classic	UAE	US$2,000,000	Robert-Jan Derksen (1)	30
16 Mar	Qatar Masters	Qatar	US$1,500,000	Darren Fichardt (2)	24
23 Mar	Madeira Island Open	Portugal	€600,000	Bradley Dredge (1)	24
13 Apr	Masters Tournament	United States	US$6,000,000	Mike Weir (n/a)	100		Major championship
20 Apr	Algarve Open de Portugal	Portugal	€1,250,000	Freddie Jacobson (2)	24
27 Apr	Canarias Open de España	Spain	€1,750,000	Kenneth Ferrie (1)	24
4 May	Italian Open Telecom Italia	Italy	€1,100,000	Mathias Grönberg (4)	24
11 May	Benson & Hedges International Open	England	£1,100,000	Paul Casey (3)	42
18 May	Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe	Germany	€2,700,000	Pádraig Harrington (7)	48
25 May	Volvo PGA Championship	England	€3,500,000	Ignacio Garrido (2)	64		Flagship event
1 Jun	Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open	Wales	£1,500,000	Ian Poulter (4)	24
8 Jun	Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters	England	£1,500,000	Greg Owen (1)	24
15 Jun	Aa St Omer Open	France	€400,000	Brett Rumford (1)	16		New to European Tour
15 Jun	U.S. Open	United States	US$6,000,000	Jim Furyk (n/a)	100		Major championship
22 Jun	Diageo Championship at Gleneagles	Scotland	£1,200,000	Søren Kjeldsen (1)	24
29 Jun	Open de France	France	€2,500,000	Philip Golding (1)	24
6 Jul	Smurfit European Open	Ireland	£2,000,000	Phillip Price (3)	44
13 Jul	Barclays Scottish Open	Scotland	£2,200,000	Ernie Els (14)	50
20 Jul	The Open Championship	England	£3,900,000	Ben Curtis (1)	100		Major championship
27 Jul	Nissan Irish Open	Ireland	€1,800,000	Michael Campbell (6)	24
3 Aug	Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters	Sweden	€1,900,000	Adam Scott (4)	24
10 Aug	Nordic Open	Denmark	€1,600,000	Ian Poulter (5)	24		New tournament
17 Aug	BMW Russian Open	Russia	€400,000	Marcus Fraser (1)	16		New to European Tour
17 Aug	PGA Championship	United States	US$6,000,000	Shaun Micheel (n/a)	100		Major championship
24 Aug	WGC-NEC Invitational	United States	US$6,000,000	Darren Clarke (10)	78		World Golf Championship
31 Aug	BMW International Open	Germany	€1,800,000	Lee Westwood (15)	30
7 Sep	Omega European Masters	Switzerland	€1,600,000	Ernie Els (15)	30
14 Sep	Trophée Lancôme	France	€1,800,000	Retief Goosen (9)	26
21 Sep	Linde German Masters	Germany	€3,000,000	K. J. Choi (n/a)	48
28 Sep	Dunhill Links Championship	Scotland	US$5,000,000	Lee Westwood (16)	52		Pro-Am
5 Oct	WGC-American Express Championship	United States	US$6,000,000	Tiger Woods (n/a)	76		World Golf Championship
12 Oct	Dutch Open	Netherlands	€1,000,000	Maarten Lafeber (1)	24
19 Oct	Turespaña Mallorca Classic	Spain	€400,000	Miguel Ángel Jiménez (7)	16		New tournament
26 Oct	Telefónica Open de Madrid	Spain	€1,400,000	Ricardo González (2)	30
2 Nov	Volvo Masters Andalucía	Spain	US$4,000,000	Freddie Jacobson (3)	46		Tour Championship

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)	OWGR points	Notes
19 Oct	HSBC World Match Play Championship	England	£2,300,000		n/a	Limited-field event
9 Nov		Spain	n/a	Team GB&I	n/a	Team event
18 Nov		United States	US$4,000,000		n/a	World Golf Championship Team event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.^{[4] [5]}

Position	Player	Prize money (€)
1		2,975,374
2		2,210,051
3		1,555,623
4		1,521,303
5		1,500,855
6		1,360,456
7		1,330,713
8		1,327,148
9		1,245,513
10		1,234,018

Awards

Award	Winner
		[6]
		[7]

See also

• 2003 European Seniors Tour

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nordic Open will make debut in 2003 . ESPN . Reuters . 6 November 2002 . 5 May 2003.
2. News: Golf . The Charlotte Observer . Charlotte, North Carolina . 27 November 2002 . 24 (2C in paper) . Newspapers.com . 5 May 2020 . subscription . Russia will host its first top-tier European Tour event next year one of four new tournaments for 2003. The tour also added events in Denmark, France and Majorca. The English Open, the Great North Open in England and the North West of Ireland Open were dropped after sponsors withdrew..
3. Web site: 2003 Tournament schedule . European Tour . 17 October 2023.
4. Web site: 2003 Order of Merit . European Tour . 17 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050314231217/http://www.europeantour.com/stats/OrderOfMerit.sps?iTourID=1&sRankID=&iYear=2003 . 14 March 2005.
5. News: Els takes European title . BBC Sport . 18 October 2003 . 17 October 2023.
6. News: Els named European player of year . CNN . 11 December 2003 . 17 October 2023.
7. News: Lawrie Named Euro Tour Rookie of the Year . NBC Sports . 4 November 2003 . 17 October 2023.