2003 European Tour
The 2003 European Tour was the 32nd season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
| Duration | 21 November 2002 – 18 November 2003 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 45 |
| Most wins | 4 – Ernie Els |
| Order of Merit | Ernie Els |
| Golfer of the Year | Ernie Els |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Peter Lawrie |
← 2002 2004 → | |
The Order of Merit was won for the first time by South African Ernie Els.
Schedule
The table below shows the 2003 European Tour schedule which was made up of 45 tournaments counting towards the Order of Merit, which included the four major championships and three World Golf Championships, and three non-counting "Approved Special Events".
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]
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- The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names show the number of official career wins they had on the European Tour up to and including that event. Totals are only shown for members of the European Tour and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998 and have been retrospectively recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- Limited field events were not eligible for ranking points between 2000 and 2003.[4]
Order of Merit
In 2003, the European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was calculated in euro, although around half of the events had prize funds which were fixed in other currencies, mostly either British pounds or U.S. dollars. In these instances the amounts were converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament was played. The top 10 golfers in 2003 were:
| Position | Player | Country | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernie Els |  South Africa | 2,975,374 |
| 2 | Darren Clarke |  Northern Ireland | 2,210,051 |
| 3 | Pádraig Harrington |  Ireland | 1,555,623 |
| 4 | Freddie Jacobson |  Sweden | 1,521,303 |
| 5 | Ian Poulter |  England | 1,500,855 |
| 6 | Paul Casey | England | 1,360,456 |
| 7 | Lee Westwood | England | 1,330,713 |
| 8 | Thomas Bjørn |  Denmark | 1,327,148 |
| 9 | Brian Davis | England | 1,245,513 |
| 10 | Phillip Price | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales | 1,234,018 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| European Tour Golfer of the Year | Ernie Els | South Africa |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Peter Lawrie | Ireland |
References
- "Nordic Open will make debut in 2003". ESPN. Reuters. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 5 May 2003.
- "Golf". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. 27 November 2002. p. 2C. Retrieved 5 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Events | European Tour | 2003". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 5 May 2020.