2008 European Tour
The 2008 European Tour was the 37th golf season since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
| Duration | 8 November 2007 – 30 November 2008 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 52 |
| Most wins | 2 – Darren Clarke, Richard Finch, Pádraig Harrington, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell* * Tiger Woods won 3 events, but was not a European Tour member |
| Order of Merit | Robert Karlsson |
| Golfer of the Year | Pádraig Harrington |
| Players' Player of the Year | Pádraig Harrington |
| Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year | Pablo Larrazábal |
← 2007 2009 → | |
The Order of Merit was won by Robert Karlsson, the first Swedish golfer to do so. The Golfer of the Year award was given to Pádraig Harrington, who won two major championships during the season and finished second in the Order of Merit. The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Pablo Larrazábal from Spain.
Major tournaments
For a summary of the major tournaments and events of 2008, including the major championships and the World Golf Championships, see 2008 in golf.
Schedule
The 2008 season began in November 2007 and consisted of 50 official money events, a drop of two from the previous year. This included seven major championships and World Golf Championships, which are also sanctioned by the PGA Tour. 27 events took place in Europe, 11 in Asia, six in the United States, four in South Africa, one in Australia and one in New Zealand.
There were four new tournaments, the Indian Masters, the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea,[1] and in Spain the Madrid Masters and the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar. Lost from the tour schedule were the Singapore Masters, the TCL Classic, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the Madrid Open and the Mallorca Classic. the World Match Play Championship was originally scheduled, but was not held; it returned in 2009 with a new sponsor and venue.[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.
Location of tournaments
     Location of official tournaments of the 2008 European Tour in Europe. Major Championship Flagship event Tour Championship Regular event
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.svg.png.webp)    Location of official tournaments of the 2008 European Tour outside Europe. Major Championship World Golf Championship Regular event
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Order of Merit
In 2008, 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 2008 were:
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Karlsson |  Sweden | 23 | 2,732,748 |
| 2 | Pádraig Harrington |  Ireland | 14 | 2,459,109 |
| 3 | Lee Westwood |  England | 21 | 2,424,642 |
| 4 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |  Spain | 26 | 2,066,596 |
| 5 | Graeme McDowell |  Northern Ireland | 28 | 1,859,346 |
| 6 | Ross Fisher | England | 27 | 1,836,530 |
| 7 | Henrik Stenson | Sweden | 19 | 1,798,617 |
| 8 | Martin Kaymer |  Germany | 25 | 1,794,500 |
| 9 | Sergio García | Spain | 13 | 1,591,917 |
| 10 | Søren Kjeldsen |  Denmark | 29 | 1,440,979 |
Tiger Woods earned more money in European Tour events in 2008 (€2,759,558 in five events) than any other golfer, but was not a member of the European Tour so was not eligible for the Order of Merit.[4]
Awards
Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award were as follows:
| Month | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| January | Martin Kaymer | Germany |
| February | Mark Brown |  New Zealand |
| March | Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland |
| April | Trevor Immelman |  South Africa |
| May | Sergio García | Spain |
| June | Pablo Larrazábal | Spain |
| July | Pádraig Harrington | Ireland |
| August | Pádraig Harrington | Ireland |
| September | Robert Karlsson | Sweden |
| October | Robert Karlsson | Sweden |
| November | Robert Karlsson | Sweden |
See also
References
- "Euro Tour to hit India and Korea". BBC Sport. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- Mair, Lewine (23 June 2008). "Matchplay's 44-year run at Wentworth ends". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- "Events | European Tour | 2008". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- Tiger Woods – Career record