2015 European Tour season
Duration4 December 2014 (2014-12-04) – 22 November 2015 (2015-11-22)
Number of official events48
Most winsNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy (3)
England Andy Sullivan (3)
Race to DubaiNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy
Golfer of the YearNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy
Players' Player of the YearNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearSouth Korea An Byeong-hun
Graduate of the YearSouth Korea An Byeong-hun
2014
2016

The 2015 European Tour was the 44th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

Changes for 2015

There were many changes from the previous season. There were six additions to the schedule, made up of four new tournaments: the True Thailand Classic, the Shenzhen International, the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open; the Hero Indian Open, which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first time; and the return of the European Open, which was last played in 2009.[1]

Seven events were lost from the schedule: the Volvo World Match Play Championship and Volvo Golf Champions, as a result of Volvo reducing their sponsorship commitments;[2] the Nelson Mandela Championship; the NH Collection Open; The Championship at Laguna National; the Wales Open, as a 15-year deal with Celtic Manor Resort came to an end;[3] and the Perth International, which wasn't played in 2015 due to rescheduling from October to February.

In March, the tour confirmed that the British Masters, last held in 2008, was also being revived and added to the schedule.[4] Later in the month, the Madeira Islands Open was cancelled due to persistent heavy rain; it was later rescheduled to the end of July, opposite the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play.[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2015 season.[6]

Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[lower-alpha 1] OWGR
points
Other
tours[lower-alpha 2]
Notes
7 Dec Nedbank Golf Challenge South Africa US$6,500,000 England Danny Willett (2) 38 AFR Limited-field event
14 Dec Alfred Dunhill Championship South Africa €1,500,000 South Africa Branden Grace (5) 22 AFR
11 Jan South African Open Championship South Africa R14,000,000 England Andy Sullivan (1) 32 AFR[lower-alpha 3]
18 Jan Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship UAE US$2,700,000 France Gary Stal (1) 50
24 Jan Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Qatar US$2,500,000 South Africa Branden Grace (6) 42
1 Feb Omega Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$2,650,000 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy (10) 50
8 Feb Maybank Malaysian Open Malaysia US$3,000,000 India Anirban Lahiri (1) 38 ASA
15 Feb True Thailand Classic Thailand US$2,000,000 Australia Andrew Dodt (2) 28 ASA New tournament
22 Feb Hero Indian Open India US$1,500,000 India Anirban Lahiri (2) 19 ASA New to European Tour
1 Mar Joburg Open South Africa €1,300,000 England Andy Sullivan (2) 19 AFR
8 Mar Africa Open South Africa R14,500,000 South Africa Trevor Fisher Jnr (1) 19 AFR
8 Mar WGC-Cadillac Championship United States US$9,250,000 United States Dustin Johnson (n/a) 76 World Golf Championship
15 Mar Tshwane Open South Africa R18,500,000 South Africa George Coetzee (2) 19 AFR
29 Mar Trophée Hassan II Morocco €1,500,000 Scotland Richie Ramsay (3) 24
12 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$10,000,000 United States Jordan Spieth (n/a) 100 Major championship
19 Apr Shenzhen International China US$2,500,000 Thailand Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2) 24 New tournament
26 Apr Volvo China Open China CN¥20,000,000 China Wu Ashun (1) 26 ONE
3 May WGC-Cadillac Match Play United States US$9,250,000 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy (11) 76 World Golf Championship
10 May AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Mauritius €1,000,000 South Africa George Coetzee (3) 17 AFR, ASA New tournament
17 May Open de España Spain €1,500,000 England James Morrison (2) 26
24 May BMW PGA Championship England €5,000,000 South Korea An Byeong-hun (1) 64 Flagship event
31 May Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Northern Ireland €2,500,000 Denmark Søren Kjeldsen (4) 48
7 Jun Nordea Masters Sweden €1,500,000 Sweden Alex Norén (4) 26
14 Jun Lyoness Open Austria €1,500,000 England Chris Wood (2) 24
21 Jun U.S. Open United States US$9,000,000 United States Jordan Spieth (n/a) 100 Major championship
28 Jun BMW International Open Germany €2,000,000 Spain Pablo Larrazábal (4) 32
5 Jul Alstom Open de France France €3,000,000 Austria Bernd Wiesberger (3) 36
12 Jul Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Scotland £3,250,000 United States Rickie Fowler (n/a) 50
20 Jul The Open Championship Scotland £6,300,000 United States Zach Johnson (n/a) 100 Major championship
26 Jul Omega European Masters Switzerland €2,700,000 England Danny Willett (3) 32 ASA
2 Aug Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play Scotland €1,000,000 Thailand Kiradech Aphibarnrat (3) 24 New tournament
Limited-field event
2 Aug[lower-alpha 4]
22 Mar
Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI Portugal €600,000 Finland Roope Kakko (1) 18 CHA
9 Aug WGC-Bridgestone Invitational United States US$9,250,000 Republic of Ireland Shane Lowry (3) 74 World Golf Championship
16 Aug PGA Championship United States US$10,000,000 Australia Jason Day (n/a) 100 Major championship
23 Aug Made in Denmark Denmark €1,500,000 England David Horsey (4) 24
30 Aug D+D Real Czech Masters Czech Republic €1,000,000 Belgium Thomas Pieters (1) 24
6 Sep M2M Russian Open Russia €1,000,000 England Lee Slattery (2) 24
13 Sep KLM Open Netherlands €1,800,000 Belgium Thomas Pieters (2) 24
20 Sep Open d'Italia Italy €1,500,000 Sweden Rikard Karlberg (1) 24
27 Sep Porsche European Open Germany €2,000,000 Thailand Thongchai Jaidee (7) 30
4 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000 Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen (3) 44 Pro-Am
11 Oct British Masters England £3,000,000 England Matt Fitzpatrick (1) 36
18 Oct Portugal Masters Portugal €2,000,000 England Andy Sullivan (3) 24
25 Oct UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong US$2,000,000 England Justin Rose (8) 34 ASA
1 Nov Turkish Airlines Open Turkey US$7,000,000 France Victor Dubuisson (2) 44 Race to Dubai finals series
8 Nov WGC-HSBC Champions China US$8,500,000 Scotland Russell Knox (1) 66 World Golf Championship
Race to Dubai finals series
15 Nov BMW Masters China US$7,000,000 Sweden Kristoffer Broberg (1) 50 Race to Dubai finals series
22 Nov DP World Tour Championship, Dubai UAE US$8,000,000 Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy (12) 52 Race to Dubai finals series

Location of tournaments

Race to Dubai

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[7][8][9][10]

Pos. Player Majors WGCs Flagship event and R2D finals series[lower-alpha 5] Top 10s in other ET events Tmts Points and money
Mas USO Opn PGA WGC
Cad
WGC
MP
WGC
Inv
WGC
Cha
BMW
PGA
Tur BMW
Mas
DPW
TC
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
points
Bon.
($)
FS
bonus

($)
1 Northern Ireland McIlroy 4thT9 T91stT11 CUTT61st 2nd1st 12 4,727,253 1,250,000625,000
2 England Willett T38CUTT6T54 T123rdT17T3 T38T11T28T4 1stT4T61stT3 23 3,670,310 800,000200,000
3 South Africa Grace CUTT4T203rd 54thT9T17T5 T11T223rd 1st1st 18 3,056,948 530,000132,500
4 England Rose T2T27T64th 55thT17T3 T38T7T22 1st 14 2,827,024 400,000(100,000)[lower-alpha 6]
5 Republic of Ireland Lowry CUTT9CUTCUT T17T341stT68 T68thT56T48 T2 18 2,729,144 350,00087,500
6 South Africa Oosthuizen T19T2T2T30 6thT5T42T44 T37T38 T72nd 12 2,711,457 300,00045,000
7 South Korea An CUTCUTCUT T57T19 1st4thT3T4 T5T7T8 26 2,417,356 250,00037,500
8 England Sullivan CUTT30CUT T34T64 17thT60T172nd 1stT41stT6T61st 28 2,263,573 200,00030,000
9 Austria Wiesberger T22CUTT68CUT T31T34T25T17 CUTT50T24T17 T63rdT42ndT21stT4 25 2,163,181 170,00025,500
10 Thailand Jaidee 55thCUTT65CUT 69thT34T57T11 T2T26T3T31 T7T2T101st 25 2,150,076 150,00022,500
11 France Dubuisson CUTCUTCUTT18 T62T52T50 T631stT17T13 T4T10 21 2,132,753 140,00014,000
12 England Fitzpatrick T7 T26T13T4 T5T8T32nd3rdT31stT3 32 2,094,933 130,00013,000
13 Thailand Aphibarnrat CUTT68 T30 T273rdT31T22 5thT41stT41stT4T5 25 2,055,618 120,00012,000
14 Sweden Broberg CUTT501stT17 T10T6T10T2T8 32 2,003,321 110,00011,000
15 Denmark Kjeldsen CUTCUT T12T46 T18T11T9T10 T91st2ndT2T9T9T2 31 1,996,684 100,00010,000
  Win
  Top 10
  Made cut
  Missed cut
 Did not play

Awards

AwardWinnerRef.
Golfer of the YearNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy[11]
Players' Player of the YearNorthern Ireland Rory McIlroy[12]
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the YearSouth Korea An Byeong-hun[13]
Graduate of the YearSouth Korea An Byeong-hun[13]

See also

Notes

  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.
  2. AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour; ONE − OneAsia Tour.
  3. Sunshine Tour flagship event
  4. Rescheduled due to persistent bad weather.
  5. The WGC-HSBC Champions was also a Race to Dubai finals series event.
  6. Having only played two Race to Dubai finals series events, Rose was not eligible for the additional finals series bonus.

References

  1. "European Tour 2015: New events in Scotland, Germany, Thailand". BBC Sport. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  2. "European Tour: Volvo withdraw sponsorship of two events". Sky Sports. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  3. Corrigan, James (19 September 2014). "Wales Open becomes latest professional tournament to bite the dust after being handed last rites by Celtic Manor". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. "European Tour: British Masters returns after seven-year absence". BBC Sport. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  5. Lavner, Ryan (24 March 2015). "Canceled Euro Tour event rescheduled for July". Golf Channel. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  6. "2015 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  7. "New points system announced for European Tour Race to Dubai in 2015". Sky Sports. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  8. "Race to Dubai enhanced by additional bonus pool scheme". European Tour. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  9. "Golf-Race to Dubai rankings". Reuters. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. Gittings, Paul (23 November 2015). "DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy wins to wrap up Race to Dubai". CNN. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  11. Stafford, Ali (15 December 2015). "Rory McIlroy named European Tour Golfer of the Year for 2015". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  12. "McIlroy gunning for more glory". European Tour. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2023. The Northern Irishman overcame an injury-plagued 2015 season to win his third Harry Vardon Trophy and was then honoured by his peers as he was voted Players' Player of the year for the second season in succession.
  13. 1 2 McGarr, Rob (4 December 2015). "Byeong Hun An is the European Tour Rookie of the Year". Today's Golfer. Retrieved 19 April 2023. Much like American Brooks Koepka last year, An's remarkable rise through The European Tour's developmental system was recognised by a second prestigious title, the Graduate of the Year Award, given to the highest-ranked player in The Race to Dubai to have graduated directly from the Challenge Tour the previous season.
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