# 2006 European Tour

The 2006 European Tour was the 35th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 2006

Changes from the 2005 season included four new tournaments, the HSBC Champions in China, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the BA-CA Golf Open, which returned to the European Tour schedule for the first time since 1996, and the Royal Trophy, a team event contested between teams from Europe and Asia. In addition, there were two editions of the Volvo China Open and the Imperial Collection Russian Open became a full European Tour event having previously been a dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour. The German Masters, the Heineken Classic, and the Abama Open de Canarias were lost from the tour schedule, as was the New Zealand Open which was held later in the year as part of the 2007 season.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2006 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 13 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 | David Howell (3) | 48 | AFR, ANZ, ASA | New limited-field event |
| 27 Nov | Volvo China Open | China | US$1,300,000 | Paul Casey (5) | 18 | ASA | |
| 4 Dec | UBS Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$1,200,000 | Colin Montgomerie (30) | 28 | ASA | |
| 11 Dec | Dunhill Championship | South Africa | €1,000,000 | Ernie Els (22) | 20 | AFR | |
| 18 Dec | South African Airways Open | South Africa | €1,000,000 | Retief Goosen (13) | 32 | AFR | |
| 22 Jan | Abu Dhabi Golf Championship | UAE | US$2,000,000 | Chris DiMarco (n/a) | 42 | | New tournament |
| 29 Jan | Commercialbank Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$2,000,000 | Henrik Stenson (3) | 44 | ASA | |
| 5 Feb | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,400,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 48 | | |
| 12 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | £1,250,000 | Kevin Stadler (n/a) | 44 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 19 Feb | Maybank Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$1,250,000 | Charlie Wi (1) | 20 | ASA | |
| 26 Feb | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | US$7,500,000 | Geoff Ogilvy (1) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 5 Mar | Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open | Indonesia | US$1,000,000 | Simon Dyson (1) | 20 | ASA | |
| 12 Mar | OSIM Singapore Masters | Singapore | US$1,000,000 | Mardan Mamat (1) | 20 | ASA | |
| 19 Mar | TCL Classic | China | US$1,000,000 | Johan Edfors (1) | 24 | ASA | |
| 26 Mar | Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos | Portugal | €700,000 | Jean van de Velde (2) | 24 | | |
| 2 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,250,000 | Paul Broadhurst (6) | 24 | | |
| 9 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$7,000,000 | Phil Mickelson (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 16 Apr | Volvo China Open | China | US$1,800,000 | Jeev Milkha Singh (1) | 24 | ASA | |
| 23 Apr | BMW Asian Open | China | US$1,800,000 | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (2) | 30 | ASA | |
| 30 Apr | Andalucía Open de España Valle Romano | Spain | €1,650,000 | Niclas Fasth (4) | 24 | | |
| 7 May | Telecom Italia Open | Italy | €1,400,000 | Francesco Molinari (1) | 24 | | |
| 14 May | Quinn Direct British Masters | England | £1,800,000 | Johan Edfors (2) | 42 | | |
| 21 May | Nissan Irish Open | Ireland | €2,200,000 | Thomas Bjørn (9) | 38 | | |
| 28 May | BMW Championship | England | €4,250,000 | David Howell (4) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 4 Jun | Celtic Manor Wales Open | Wales | £1,500,000 | Robert Karlsson (6) | 28 | | |
| 11 Jun | BA-CA Golf Open | Austria | €1,300,000 | Markus Brier (1) | 24 | | |
| 18 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | €400,000 | César Monasterio (1) | 18 | CHA | |
| 18 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$6,250,000 | Geoff Ogilvy (2) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 25 Jun | Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | £1,400,000 | Paul Casey (6) | 24 | | |
| 2 Jul | Open de France Alstom | France | €4,000,000 | John Bickerton (2) | 40 | | |
| 9 Jul | Smurfit Kappa European Open | Ireland | £2,400,000 | Stephen Dodd (3) | 46 | | |
| 16 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | £2,400,000 | Johan Edfors (3) | 50 | | |
| 23 Jul | The Open Championship | England | £4,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 30 Jul | Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe | Germany | €3,600,000 | Robert Karlsson (7) | 50 | | |
| 6 Aug | EnterCard Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | €1,600,000 | Marc Warren (1) | 24 | | |
| 13 Aug | KLM Open | Netherlands | €1,600,000 | Simon Dyson (2) | 24 | | |
| 20 Aug | Imperial Collection Russian Open | Russia | US$1,000,000 | Alejandro Cañizares (1) | 24 | | |
| 20 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$6,800,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 27 Aug | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | United States | US$7,500,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 3 Sep | BMW International Open | Germany | €2,000,000 | Henrik Stenson (4) | 44 | | |
| 10 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €2,000,000 | Bradley Dredge (2) | 24 | | |
| 17 Sep | HSBC World Match Play Championship | England | £1,660,000 | Paul Casey (7) | 48 | | Limited-field event |
| 17 Sep | XXXII Banco Madrid Valle Romano Open de Madrid Golf Masters | Spain | €1,000,000 | Ian Poulter (7) | 24 | | |
| 1 Oct | WGC-American Express Championship | England | US$7,500,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 70 | | World Golf Championship |
| 8 Oct | Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Pádraig Harrington (10) | 50 | | Pro-Am |
| 22 Oct | Mallorca Classic | Spain | €1,750,000 | Niclas Fasth (5) | 28 | | |
| 29 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | €4,000,000 | Jeev Milkha Singh (2) | 48 | | Tour Championship |

### 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 |
| 8 Jan | Royal Trophy | Thailand | US$1,250,000 | Team Europe | n/a | New team event |
| 24 Sep | Ryder Cup | Ireland | n/a | Team Europe | n/a | Team event |
| 10 Dec | WGC-World Cup | Barbados | US$4,000,000 | Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem | n/a | World Golf Championship Team event |

## Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.
| Position | Player | Prize money (€) |
| 1 | Pádraig Harrington | 2,489,337 |
| 2 | Paul Casey | 2,454,084 |
| 3 | David Howell | 2,321,116 |
| 4 | Robert Karlsson | 2,044,936 |
| 5 | Ernie Els | 1,716,208 |
| 6 | Henrik Stenson | 1,709,359 |
| 7 | Luke Donald | 1,658,060 |
| 8 | Ian Poulter | 1,589,070 |
| 9 | Colin Montgomerie | 1,534,748 |
| 10 | Johan Edfors | 1,505,583 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Golfer of the Year | Paul Casey | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Marc Warren | |