The 1988 European Tour was the seventeenth official season of golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 tournaments known as the PGA European Tour

PGA European Tour

The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...

. It marked the beginning of a long association for the tour with Swedish car maker Volvo

Volvo

AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

, who became the tour's first official title sponsor.

The Order of Merit was won by Spain's Seve Ballesteros.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1988 European Tour schedule which was made up of 31 tournaments, which included the major national opens around Europe. There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Open de Baleares

Open de Baleares

The Open de Baleares was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually from 1988 to 1995. It had five names in eight years. It was staged at various courses on Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands of Spain. The most notable winner was five times major championship winner Seve...

, the Barcelona Open

Barcelona Open

The Torras Hostench Barcelona Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour in 1988. It was held at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

, the Biarritz Open, the English Open

English Open

The English Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. In 2009, it was due to be played over the Jack Nicklaus designed Signature Course at the St...

 and the Volvo Masters

Volvo Masters

The Volvo Masters was the concluding official money event of the European Tour season until 2009, when it was replaced by the Dubai World Championship...

, and the loss of the Moroccan Open

Moroccan Open

The Moroccan Open was a European Tour golf tournament which was held in 1987 and annually from 1992 to 2001. There were several different host courses...

 and the Lawrence Batley International

Lawrence Batley International

The Lawrence Batley International was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually from 1981 to 1987. The first three editions were played at Bingley St lves, Bradford, the next three at Ryder Cup venue The Belfry and the final edition at Open Championship venue Royal Birkdale...

.

Dates	Tournament	Host country	Winner	Notes
10–13 Mar	Mallorca Open de Baleares	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	Seve Ballesteros	New tournament
17–20 Mar	Torras Hostench Barcelona Open	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	David Whelan David Whelan (golfer) David Whelan is an English golf instructor and former professional golfer on the European Tour.Whelan became a professional in 1981 and gained playing privileges on the European Tour in 1987, having been unsuccessful in five previous attempts...	New tournament
31 Mar–3 Apr	AGF Biarritz Open	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	David Llewellyn David Llewellyn (golfer) David John Llewellyn is a Welsh professional golfer.Llewellyn played on the European Tour in the 1970s after being named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 1971. He achieved a personal best ranking of 39th on the Order or Merit in 1974, but did not win any tournaments in this period...	New tournament
14–17 Apr	Cannes Open Cannes Open The Cannes Open was a men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour that was played annually from 1984 to 1998. It returned to the schedule as a one-off event in 2001 to replace the Estoril Open, which was cancelled by organisers due to security concerns following the 9/11 attacks in the...	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty...
21–24 Apr	Cepsa Madrid Open	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	Derrick Cooper Derrick Cooper Derrick Cooper is an English golfer. He turned professional in 1972. It took him some time to establish himself on the European Tour, but he held a tour card for sixteen consecutive seasons from 1984 and made the top one hundred on the European Tour Order of Merit a total of fifteen times, with a...
28 Apr–1 May	Portuguese Open Portuguese Open The Portuguese Open, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Estoril Open de Portugal, is an annual tournament on men's golf's European Tour. It has been played since 1953, with a few skipped years, and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since 1973...	Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...	Mike Harwood Mike Harwood Michael Geoffrey Harwood is an Australian golfer.Harwood was born in Sydney. He turned professional in 1979 and has extensive experience on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour. He won five times in Europe, including a 1990 victory in tour's home tournament at Wentworth, which was...
5–8 May	Epson Grand Prix of Europe Epson Grand Prix of Europe The Epson Grand Prix of Europe was a European Tour golf tournament which was held annually from 1986 to 1991 at St. Pierre Golf & Country Club in Chepstow, South Wales. It was a matchplay event for the first four years before switching to stroke play for the final two years. Four of the six...	Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...	Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion, and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...
12–15 May	Peugeot Spanish Open	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	Mark James
19–22 May	Lancia Italian Open	Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...
27–30 May	Volvo PGA Championship	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...
2–5 Jun	Dunhill British Masters	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s...
9–12 Jun	Wang Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Rodger Davis Rodger Davis Rodger Miles Davis is an Australian professional golfer.Davis was born in Sydney. He turned professional in 1974 and spent his regular career playing mainly on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 1990 and 1991...
16–19 Jun	Volvo Belgian Open	Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...
23–26 Jun	Peugeot Open de France	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
29 Jun–2 Jul	Monte Carlo Open	Monaco Monaco Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...	José Rivero José Rivero José Rivero is a Spanish golfer. He started his golf career as a caddie and turned professional in 1973. He was a full member of the European Tour from 1983 to 2001 and he won four European Tour events...
6–9 July	Bell's Scottish Open	Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...	Barry Lane Barry Lane Barry Lane is an English professional golfer.Lane was born in Hayes, Middlesex. He turned professional in 1976 and first played on the European Tour in 1982. For the first few seasons he failed to finish high enough on the Order of Merit to retain his card and he made several visits to the...
14–17 Jul	The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Seve Ballesteros
21–24 Jul	KLM Dutch Open	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...	Mark Mouland Mark Mouland Mark Mouland is a Welsh professional golfer.Mouland was born in St. Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, and is the son of six times Welsh champion Sid Mouland. In 1976, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Boys Championship...
28–31 Jul	Scandinavian Enterprise Open Scandinavian Enterprise Open The Scandinavian Enterprise Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour that was played in Sweden until 1990, when it had a prize fund of £400,000, which was mid-range for the tour at that time....	Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	Seve Ballesteros
4–7 Aug	Benson and Hedges International Open	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Peter Baker Peter Baker (golfer) Peter A. Baker is an English professional golfer.Baker was born in Shifnal, Shropshire, and currently lives near Wolverhampton. He learned golf at his father's nine hole Himley Hall course and was taught by Sandy Lyle's father Alex....
11–14 Aug	PLM Open PLM Open The PLM Open was a golf tournament that was played in Sweden until 1990. Founded in 1983, it was a European Tour event from 1986, and in its final year it had a prize fund of £356,930, which was mid-range for a European Tour event at that time...	Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	Frank Nobilo Frank Nobilo Frank Ivan Joseph Nobilo, CNZM is a professional golfer from New Zealand.Nobilo had a successful playing career, winning 15 pro tournaments around the world...
18–21 Aug	Carroll's Irish Open	Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...
25–28 Aug	German Open German Open (golf) The German Open was a men's golf tournament. It was first staged in 1911 when the winner was Harry Vardon. The following year the champion was another of the Great Triumvirate of late 19th and early 20th century British golfers, John Henry Taylor. The tournament was then cancelled for over a decade...	West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....	Seve Ballesteros
1–4 Sept	Ebel European Masters Swiss Open	Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....	Chris Moody Chris Moody Chris Moody is an English professional golfer.Moody turned professional in 1973 and joined the European Tour in 1979. He made the top one hundred on the European Tour Order of Merit twelve times between 1980 and 1992, with a best ranking of nineteenth in 1988. It was in 1988 that he collected his...
8–11 Sept	Panasonic European Open	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...
15–18 Sept	Lancome Trophy	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	Seve Ballesteros
22–25 Sept	German Masters	West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....	José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...
29 Sept–2 Oct	English Open English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. In 2009, it was due to be played over the Jack Nicklaus designed Signature Course at the St...	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Howard Clark	New tournament
6–10 Oct	Suntory World Match Play	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s...
20–23 Oct	BNP Jersey Open	Jersey Jersey Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...	Des Smyth Des Smyth Desmond John Smyth is an Irish professional golfer.Smyth was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He turned professional in 1974 and was a member of the European Tour for over a quarter of a century. His best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was seventh in 1988...
27–30 Oct	Volvo Masters Volvo Masters The Volvo Masters was the concluding official money event of the European Tour season until 2009, when it was replaced by the Dubai World Championship...	Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...	New tournament

Order of Merit

The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Volvo Order of Merit". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

.

Position	Player	Country	Prize money (£ Pound sterling The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence... )
1	Seve Ballesteros		451,560
2	Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...		347,971
3	José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...		285,964
4	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...		234,991
5	Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s...		186,018
6	Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty...		180,992
7	Des Smyth Des Smyth Desmond John Smyth is an Irish professional golfer.Smyth was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He turned professional in 1974 and was a member of the European Tour for over a quarter of a century. His best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was seventh in 1988...		171,951
8	Mark James		152,900
9	Ronan Rafferty Ronan Rafferty Ronan P. Rafferty is an Northern Irish professional golfer, who formerly played on the European Tour.Rafferty was born in Newry, Northern Ireland. He won the Boys Amateur Championship aged fifteen and played in the Walker Cup aged seventeen...		132,395
10	José Rivero José Rivero José Rivero is a Spanish golfer. He started his golf career as a caddie and turned professional in 1973. He was a full member of the European Tour from 1983 to 2001 and he won four European Tour events...		131,079

External links

• 1988 season results on the PGA European Tour website
• 1988 Order of Merit on the PGA European Tour website