2004 European Tour
The 2004 European Tour was the 33rd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 4 December 2003 – 31 October 2004 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 45 |
| Most wins |  Miguel Ángel Jiménez (4) |
| Order of Merit |  Ernie Els |
| Golfer of the Year |  Vijay Singh |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Scott Drummond |
← 2003 2005 → | |
Changes for 2004
Changes from 2003 included two new tournaments, the Open de Sevilla[1] and The Heritage,[2] and the loss of the Benson & Hedges International Open, the Trophée Lancôme[3] and the Nordic Open. The HSBC World Match Play Championship also became an official money-list event for the first time with an increased field determined by qualification criteria, which also meant it regained Official World Golf Ranking status,[4] and the Mallorca Classic became a full European Tour event having been a dual-ranking event in 2003.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2004 season.[5][3][6]
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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 | Winners | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a |  Team Europe | n/a | Team event |
| 21 Nov | WGC-World Cup | Spain | US$4,000,000 |  Paul Casey and Luke Donald | 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.[7][8]
| Position | Player | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernie Els | 4,061,905 |
| 2 | Retief Goosen | 2,325,202 |
| 3 |  Pádraig Harrington | 1,910,394 |
| 4 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez | 1,886,237 |
| 5 |  Thomas Levet | 1,727,945 |
| 6 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Graeme McDowell | 1,648,862 |
| 7 | Lee Westwood | 1,592,766 |
| 8 | Darren Clarke | 1,563,803 |
| 9 | Ian Poulter | 1,533,158 |
| 10 | David Howell | 1,501,502 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | Vijay Singh | [9] |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Scott Drummond | [10] |
See also
Notes
- 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 and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins.
- AFR − Sunshine Tour; ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour.
- Sunshine Tour flagship event
References
- "New date for European Tour". BBC Sport. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- "Woburn lands new event". BBC Sport. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- Roberts, Gereurd (11 December 2003). "China a news stop for 2004 tour". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "World Match Play to become official event". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, South Dakota. Associated Press. 28 May 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "2004 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- "European Tour 2004". BBC Sport. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- "2004 Order of Merit". European Tour. Archived from the original on 14 March 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- Farrell, Andy (1 November 2004). "Poulter beats Garcia to save season". The Independent. London, United Kingdom. p. 55. Retrieved 17 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Ernie Els, who wrapped up a second successive Order of Merit title without having to play here...
- "Singh lands European Tour honour". BBC Sport. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- "Drummond scoops Rookie accolade". BBC Sport. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 17 October 2023.