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The 1985 European Tour, titled as the 1985 PGA European Tour,[1] was the 14th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
| Duration | 11 April 1985 – 2 November 1985 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26 |
| Most wins |  Seve Ballesteros (4) |
| Order of Merit |  Sandy Lyle |
| Golfer of the Year |  Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Paul Thomas |
← 1984 1986 → | |
The season was made up of 26 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and some non-counting "Approved Special Events".[2][3]
There were several changes from the previous season, with the GSI L'Equipe Open replacing the Timex Open; the return of the British Masters[4] and the Bob Hope Classic, which was rebranded as the Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity; and the loss of the Tournament Players Championship and the Celtic International.
In addition, the Dunhill Cup, a new team event devised by Mark McCormack and held over the Old Course at St Andrews, was added to the schedule but did not count towards the Order of Merit; with a prize fund of US$1,200,000 it was the richest tournament in the world, surpassing the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.[5]
Rule changes
In 1985, the European Tour became "All-Exempt", meaning that for the first time tournaments did not have their own pre-qualifying rounds.[1][6] The final two rounds of all major tournaments were played as two-balls, having previously been three-balls.[7]
Order of Merit name change
In April, it was announced that Epson would take over the title sponsorship of the Order of Merit from Sperry Corporation, being renamed as the Epson Order of Merit.[8]
The following table lists official events during the 1985 season.[9]
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 (£) |
Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Sep | Ryder Cup | England | n/a |  Team Europe |
Team event |
| 29 Sep | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 180,000 | Seve Ballesteros |
Limited-field event |
| 20 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,200,000 |  Team Australia |
New tournament Team event |
| 24 Nov | World Cup | United States | US$743,000 |  Dave Barr and Dan Halldorson |
Team event |
| World Cup Individual Trophy |  Howard Clark |
The Order of Merit was titled as the Epson Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.[10]
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle | 162,553 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer | 115,716 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros | 103,042 |
| 4 | Ian Woosnam | 82,235 |
| 5 | Sam Torrance | 79,567 |
| 6 | Howard Clark | 79,386 |
| 7 | Manuel Piñero | 71,116 |
| 8 | José María Cañizares | 65,633 |
| 9 | Gordon Brand Jnr | 65,571 |
| 10 | Paul Way | 63,097 |
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Golfer of the Year | Bernhard Langer | [11] |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Thomas | [12] |
- 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.
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