# 2016 European Tour

The 2016 European Tour was the 45th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 2016
### Rule changes

For the 2016 season, the European Tour modified its membership requirements from 13 tournaments inclusive of the four majors and four World Golf Championships, to 5 tournaments exclusive of them; the change was intended to make it easier for United States-based players outside the top-50 in the OWGR to retain their membership, as they may not be eligible for the majors and WGCs.

### Schedule changes

There were many changes from the previous season. Seven tournaments were lost from the schedule, the most significant being the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational which, due to a clash of dates with the 100th edition of the Open de France, was not sanctioned by the European Tour in 2016. Other tournaments which were removed were the Africa Open, the Malaysian Open, the Madeira Islands Open, the Russian Open, the BMW Masters and the Hong Kong Open, which would take place early in the 2017 season due to a change in dates from October to December. There were four additions to the schedule: the return of the Perth International, the first European Tour sanctioned Australian PGA Championship; the inaugural Maybank Championship, which replaced the Malaysian Open; and the Olympic Men's Golf Competition.
The Final Series was also adjusted; the Nedbank Golf Challenge replaced the dropped BMW Masters, and the series was reduced to three events with the removal of the WGC-HSBC Champions. As a result of the change of dates, the Nedbank Golf Challenge was played twice during the season.
The Fiji International and the King's Cup were added to the schedule during the year.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2016 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 29 Nov | Alfred Dunhill Championship | South Africa | €1,500,000 | Charl Schwartzel (10) | 22 | AFR | |
| 6 Dec | Australian PGA Championship | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Nathan Holman (1) | 20 | ANZ | New to European Tour |
| 6 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | South Africa | US$6,500,000 | Marc Leishman (n/a) | 44 | AFR | Limited-field event |
| 10 Jan | BMW SA Open | South Africa | R15,000,000 | Brandon Stone (1) | 32 | AFR | |
| 17 Jan | Joburg Open | South Africa | R16,500,000 | Haydn Porteous (1) | 19 | AFR | |
| 24 Jan | Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship | UAE | US$2,700,000 | Rickie Fowler (n/a) | 52 | | |
| 30 Jan | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$2,500,000 | Branden Grace (7) | 36 | | |
| 7 Feb | Omega Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,650,000 | Danny Willett (4) | 48 | | |
| 14 Feb | Tshwane Open | South Africa | R18,500,000 | Charl Schwartzel (11) | 19 | AFR | |
| 21 Feb | Maybank Championship Malaysia | Malaysia | US$3,000,000 | Marcus Fraser (3) | 38 | ASA | New tournament |
| 28 Feb | ISPS Handa Perth International | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (8) | 23 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 6 Mar | WGC-Cadillac Championship | United States | US$9,500,000 | Adam Scott (10) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 13 Mar | True Thailand Classic | Thailand | US$1,750,000 | Scott Hend (2) | 24 | ASA | |
| 20 Mar | Hero Indian Open | India | US$1,660,000 | Shiv Chawrasia (3) | 19 | ASA | |
| 27 Mar | WGC-Dell Match Play | United States | US$9,500,000 | Jason Day (n/a) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 10 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$10,000,000 | Danny Willett (5) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 17 Apr | Real Club Valderrama Open de España | Spain | €2,000,000 | Andrew Johnston (1) | 28 | | |
| 25 Apr | Shenzhen International | China | US$2,800,000 | Lee Soo-min (1) | 24 | | |
| 1 May | Volvo China Open | China | CN¥20,000,000 | Li Haotong (1) | 26 | ONE | |
| 8 May | Trophée Hassan II | Morocco | €1,500,000 | Wang Jeung-hun (1) | 24 | | |
| 15 May | AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open | Mauritius | €1,000,000 | Wang Jeung-hun (2) | 17 | AFR, ASA | |
| 22 May | Dubai Duty Free Irish Open | Ireland | €4,000,000 | Rory McIlroy (13) | 46 | | |
| 29 May | BMW PGA Championship | England | €5,000,000 | Chris Wood (3) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 5 Jun | Nordea Masters | Sweden | €1,500,000 | Matt Fitzpatrick (2) | 24 | | |
| 12 Jun | Lyoness Open | Austria | €1,000,000 | Wu Ashun (2) | 24 | | |
| 19 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$10,000,000 | Dustin Johnson (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 26 Jun | BMW International Open | Germany | €2,000,000 | Henrik Stenson (10) | 34 | | |
| 3 Jul | Open de France | France | €3,500,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (8) | 42 | | |
| 10 Jul | Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open | Scotland | £3,250,000 | Alex Norén (5) | 46 | | |
| 17 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | £6,500,000 | Henrik Stenson (11) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 31 Jul | King's Cup | Thailand | US$750,000 | Chan Shih-chang (1) | 14 | ASA | New to European Tour |
| 31 Jul | PGA Championship | United States | US$10,500,000 | Jimmy Walker (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 7 Aug | Aberdeen Asset Management Paul Lawrie Match Play | Scotland | €1,000,000 | Anthony Wall (2) | 24 | | Limited-field event |
| 21 Aug | D+D Real Czech Masters | Czech Republic | €1,000,000 | Paul Peterson (1) | 24 | | |
| 28 Aug | Made in Denmark | Denmark | €1,800,000 | Thomas Pieters (3) | 24 | | |
| 4 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €2,700,000 | Alex Norén (6) | 30 | ASA | |
| 11 Sep | KLM Open | Netherlands | €1,800,000 | Joost Luiten (5) | 24 | | |
| 18 Sep | Italian Open | Italy | €3,000,000 | Francesco Molinari (4) | 36 | | |
| 25 Sep | Porsche European Open | Germany | €2,000,000 | Alexander Lévy (3) | 24 | | |
| 9 Oct | Fiji International | Fiji | A$1,500,000 | Brandt Snedeker (n/a) | 16 | ANZ | New to European Tour |
| 9 Oct | Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Tyrrell Hatton (1) | 40 | | Pro-Am |
| 16 Oct | British Masters | England | £3,000,000 | Alex Norén (7) | 34 | | |
| 23 Oct | Portugal Masters | Portugal | €2,000,000 | Pádraig Harrington (15) | 24 | | |
| 30 Oct | WGC-HSBC Champions | China | US$9,500,000 | Hideki Matsuyama (n/a) | 70 | | World Golf Championship |
| 6 Nov | Turkish Airlines Open | Turkey | US$7,000,000 | Thorbjørn Olesen (4) | 30 | | Race to Dubai finals series |
| 13 Nov | Nedbank Golf Challenge | South Africa | US$7,000,000 | Alex Norén (8) | 46 | | Race to Dubai finals series |
| 20 Nov | DP World Tour Championship, Dubai | UAE | US$8,000,000 | Matt Fitzpatrick (3) | 52 | | Race to Dubai finals series |

### 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) | OWGR points | Notes |
| 17 Jan | EurAsia Cup | Malaysia | n/a | Team Europe | n/a | Team event |
| 14 Aug | Olympic Games | Brazil | n/a | Justin Rose | 46 | Limited-field event |
| 2 Oct | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a | Team USA | n/a | Team event |
| 27 Nov | ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf | Australia | US$8,000,000 | Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen | n/a | Team event |

## Race to Dubai

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.
| Pos. | Player | Majors | Majors | Majors | Majors | WGCs | WGCs | WGCs | Flagship event and R2D finals series | Flagship event and R2D finals series | Flagship event and R2D finals series | Flagship event and R2D finals series | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Tmts | Points and money | Points and money | Points and money |
| Pos. | Player | Mas | USO | Opn | PGA | WGC Cad | WGC MP | WGC Cha | BMW PGA | Tur | Ned | DPW TC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Tmts | Reg. points | Bon. ($) | Total points |
| 1 | Stenson | T24 | WD | 1st | T7 | T28 | • | T2 | • | • | 8th | T9 | T2 | T3 | T6 | T4 | 1st | | | 15 | 4,148,402 | 1,250,000 | 5,289,506 |
| 2 | Willett | 1st | T37 | T53 | T79 | T3 | T28 | 75th | 3rd | T68 | T11 | T50 | T4 | 1st | 2nd | | | | | 22 | 3,734,528 | 750,000 | 4,419,190 |
| 3 | Norén | • | CUT | T46 | T49 | • | • | T12 | T43 | • | 1st | T23 | T6 | T9 | 8th | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 22 | 3,447,323 | 600,000 | 3,995,053 |
| 4 | Hatton | • | • | T5 | T10 | • | • | T23 | T7 | T10 | T25 | 2nd | T8 | T5 | 2nd | 1st | T9 | | | 23 | 3,233,586 | 500,000 | 3,690,027 |
| 5 | McIlroy | T10 | CUT | T5 | CUT | T3 | 4th | T4 | • | • | • | T9 | T3 | T6 | 1st | 3rd | | | | 12 | 2,971,988 | 400,000 | 3,337,141 |
| 6 | Fitzpatrick | T7 | T54 | CUT | T49 | T35 | T38 | T16 | T47 | • | T20 | 1st | 1st | T9 | 5th | T7 | | | | 26 | 2,395,788 | 350,000 | 2,715,297 |
| 7 | Grace | CUT | T5 | T72 | T4 | T23 | T18 | T30 | • | • | T3 | T27 | T8 | T4 | T4 | T5 | 1st | | | 16 | 2,098,915 | 325,000 | 2,395,602 |
| 8 | Cabrera-Bello | T17 | T32 | T39 | T49 | T11 | 3rd | T19 | T22 | • | T55 | T23 | T2 | T2 | T8 | 4th | | | | 21 | 2,069,184 | 300,000 | 2,343,049 |
| 9 | Wiesberger | T34 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T14 | T51 | T35 | T15 | 4th | • | T4 | T7 | 2nd | 5th | T7 | 2nd | | | 25 | 2,015,865 | 275,000 | 2,266,907 |
| 10 | Oosthuizen | T15 | T23 | CUT | T22 | T14 | 2nd | T45 | • | • | 9th | T46 | T7 | 1st | | | | | | 16 | 1,938,370 | 250,000 | 2,166,590 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Golfer of the Year | Henrik Stenson |
| Players' Player of the Year (Seve Ballesteros Award) | Henrik Stenson |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Wang Jeung-hun |
| Graduate of the Year | Nacho Elvira |