# 2003 European Tour

The 2003 European Tour was the 32nd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 2003

There were four new tournaments to the European Tour in 2003, the Nordic Open and three dual-ranking events, the Aa St Omer Open, BMW Russian Open and Mallorca Classic. Lost from the tour schedule were the English Open, Great North Open and the dual-ranking North West of Ireland Open.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2003 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 24 Nov | BMW Asian Open | Taiwan | US$1,500,000 | Pádraig Harrington (6) | 16 | ASA | |
| 1 Dec | Omega Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$700,000 | Freddie Jacobson (1) | 16 | ASA | |
| 12 Jan | South African Airways Open | South Africa | £500,000 | Trevor Immelman (1) | 32 | AFR | |
| 19 Jan | Dunhill Championship | South Africa | £500,000 | Mark Foster (1) | 18 | AFR | |
| 26 Jan | Caltex Masters | Singapore | US$900,000 | Zhang Lianwei (1) | 20 | ASA | |
| 2 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | A$2,000,000 | Ernie Els (12) | 30 | ANZ | |
| 9 Feb | ANZ Championship | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Paul Casey (2) | 30 | ANZ | |
| 16 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | £1,000,000 | Ernie Els (13) | 44 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 23 Feb | Carlsberg Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$1,100,000 | Arjun Atwal (2) | 20 | ASA | |
| 2 Mar | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 9 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,000,000 | Robert-Jan Derksen (1) | 30 | | |
| 16 Mar | Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$1,500,000 | Darren Fichardt (2) | 24 | | |
| 23 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | €600,000 | Bradley Dredge (1) | 24 | CHA | |
| 13 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$6,000,000 | Mike Weir (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 20 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,250,000 | Freddie Jacobson (2) | 24 | | |
| 27 Apr | Canarias Open de España | Spain | €1,750,000 | Kenneth Ferrie (1) | 24 | | |
| 4 May | Italian Open Telecom Italia | Italy | €1,100,000 | Mathias Grönberg (4) | 24 | | |
| 11 May | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | £1,100,000 | Paul Casey (3) | 42 | | |
| 18 May | Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe | Germany | €2,700,000 | Pádraig Harrington (7) | 48 | | |
| 25 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | €3,500,000 | Ignacio Garrido (2) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 1 Jun | Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open | Wales | £1,500,000 | Ian Poulter (4) | 24 | | |
| 8 Jun | Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters | England | £1,500,000 | Greg Owen (1) | 24 | | |
| 15 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | €400,000 | Brett Rumford (1) | 16 | CHA | New to European Tour |
| 15 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$6,000,000 | Jim Furyk (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 22 Jun | Diageo Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | £1,200,000 | Søren Kjeldsen (1) | 24 | | |
| 29 Jun | Open de France | France | €2,500,000 | Philip Golding (1) | 24 | | |
| 6 Jul | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | £2,000,000 | Phillip Price (3) | 44 | | |
| 13 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | £2,200,000 | Ernie Els (14) | 50 | | |
| 20 Jul | The Open Championship | England | £3,900,000 | Ben Curtis (1) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 27 Jul | Nissan Irish Open | Ireland | €1,800,000 | Michael Campbell (6) | 24 | | |
| 3 Aug | Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | €1,900,000 | Adam Scott (4) | 24 | | |
| 10 Aug | Nordic Open | Denmark | €1,600,000 | Ian Poulter (5) | 24 | | New tournament |
| 17 Aug | BMW Russian Open | Russia | €400,000 | Marcus Fraser (1) | 16 | CHA | New to European Tour |
| 17 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 | Shaun Micheel (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 24 Aug | WGC-NEC Invitational | United States | US$6,000,000 | Darren Clarke (10) | 78 | | World Golf Championship |
| 31 Aug | BMW International Open | Germany | €1,800,000 | Lee Westwood (15) | 30 | | |
| 7 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €1,600,000 | Ernie Els (15) | 30 | | |
| 14 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | €1,800,000 | Retief Goosen (9) | 26 | | |
| 21 Sep | Linde German Masters | Germany | €3,000,000 | K. J. Choi (n/a) | 48 | | |
| 28 Sep | Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Lee Westwood (16) | 52 | | Pro-Am |
| 5 Oct | WGC-American Express Championship | United States | US$6,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 12 Oct | Dutch Open | Netherlands | €1,000,000 | Maarten Lafeber (1) | 24 | | |
| 19 Oct | Turespaña Mallorca Classic | Spain | €400,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (7) | 16 | CHA | New tournament |
| 26 Oct | Telefónica Open de Madrid | Spain | €1,400,000 | Ricardo González (2) | 30 | | |
| 2 Nov | Volvo Masters Andalucía | Spain | US$4,000,000 | Freddie Jacobson (3) | 46 | | 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 | Winner(s) | OWGR points | Notes |
| 19 Oct | HSBC World Match Play Championship | England | £2,300,000 | Ernie Els | n/a | Limited-field event |
| 9 Nov | Seve Trophy | Spain | n/a | Team GB&I | n/a | Team event |
| 18 Nov | WGC-World Cup | United States | US$4,000,000 | Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini | n/a | World Golf Championship Team event |

## Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Volvo Order of Merit and was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.
| Position | Player | Prize money (€) |
| 1 | Ernie Els | 2,975,374 |
| 2 | Darren Clarke | 2,210,051 |
| 3 | Pádraig Harrington | 1,555,623 |
| 4 | Freddie Jacobson | 1,521,303 |
| 5 | Ian Poulter | 1,500,855 |
| 6 | Paul Casey | 1,360,456 |
| 7 | Lee Westwood | 1,330,713 |
| 8 | Thomas Bjørn | 1,327,148 |
| 9 | Brian Davis | 1,245,513 |
| 10 | Phillip Price | 1,234,018 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Golfer of the Year | Ernie Els | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Peter Lawrie | |