# 2009 European Tour

The 2009 European Tour was the 38th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Race to Dubai introduction

There were major changes for the 2009 season as the tour entered a partnership agreement with Dubai based Leisurecorp. The Order of Merit was renamed as the Race to Dubai, with a bonus pool of US$7.5 million (originally $10 million) distributed among the top 15 players at the end of the season, with the winner taking $1.5 million (originally $2 million). The new name reflected the addition of a new season ending tournament, the Dubai World Championship, held at the end of November in Dubai. The tournament also had a $7.5 million prize fund (originally $10 million), and was contested by the leading 60 players in the race following the season's penultimate event, the Hong Kong Open. The winner of the Race to Dubai also received a ten-year European Tour exemption, while the winner of the Dubai World Championship received a five-year exemption. The reduction in prize money, announced in September 2009, was due to the global economic downturn.

## Changes for 2009

Changes for the 2009 season included two new tournaments, the Moravia Silesia Open in the Czech Republic and the Dubai World Championship, the addition of the Singapore Open, and the return of the Volvo World Match Play Championship after being cancelled in 2008. In addition, as a result of plans to realign the schedule with the calendar year for 2010, the HSBC Champions, Hong Kong Open and the Australian Masters were held twice during the 2009 season. The HSBC Champions became a World Golf Championships event effective with its November 2009 edition.
In December 2008, the Indian Masters, scheduled for February, was cancelled due to fallout from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, and then in January 2009 it was announced that the revival of the English Open, scheduled for August, would be postponed for at least two years after developers of the St. Mellion International Resort ran into financial difficulties. In May it was announced that due to lack of sponsorship the British Masters had also been dropped from the schedule, with the Austrian Open being rescheduled from June to take its place on the calendar in September.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2009 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 10 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 | Sergio García (8) | 52 | AFR, ANZ, ASA | Limited-field event |
| 23 Nov | UBS Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$2,250,000 | Lin Wen-tang (1) | 32 | ASA | |
| 30 Nov | Sportsbet Australian Masters | Australia | A$1,500,000 | Rod Pampling (1) | 22 | ANZ | |
| 14 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | South Africa | €1,000,000 | Richard Sterne (4) | 24 | AFR | |
| 21 Dec | South African Open Championship | South Africa | €1,000,000 | Richard Sterne (5) | 40 | AFR | |
| 11 Jan | Joburg Open | South Africa | €1,100,000 | Anders Hansen (3) | 20 | AFR | |
| 18 Jan | Abu Dhabi Golf Championship | UAE | US$2,000,000 | Paul Casey (9) | 48 | | |
| 25 Jan | Commercialbank Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$2,500,000 | Álvaro Quirós (3) | 54 | | |
| 1 Feb | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,500,000 | Rory McIlroy (1) | 52 | | |
| 8 Feb | Indian Masters | India | – | Cancelled | – | ASA | |
| 15 Feb | Maybank Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$2,000,000 | Anthony Kang (1) | 30 | ASA | |
| 22 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Australia | £1,250,000 | Danny Lee (a) (1) | 32 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 1 Mar | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | US$8,500,000 | Geoff Ogilvy (4) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 1 Mar | Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open | Indonesia | US$1,250,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (3) | 20 | ASA | |
| 15 Mar | WGC-CA Championship | United States | US$8,500,000 | Phil Mickelson (n/a) | 78 | | World Golf Championship |
| 22 Mar | Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal | Portugal | €700,000 | Estanislao Goya (1) | 24 | | |
| 29 Mar | Open de Andalucía | Spain | €1,000,000 | Søren Kjeldsen (3) | 24 | | |
| 5 Apr | Estoril Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,250,000 | Michael Hoey (1) | 24 | | |
| 12 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$7,500,000 | Ángel Cabrera (5) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 19 Apr | Volvo China Open | China | US$2,200,000 | Scott Strange (2) | 18 | ONE | |
| 26 Apr | Ballantine's Championship | South Korea | €2,100,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (4) | 32 | ASA, KOR | |
| 3 May | Open de España | Spain | €2,000,000 | Thomas Levet (5) | 24 | | |
| 10 May | BMW Italian Open | Italy | €1,300,000 | Daniel Vancsik (2) | 24 | | |
| 17 May | 3 Irish Open | Ireland | €3,000,000 | Shane Lowry (a) (1) | 40 | | |
| 24 May | BMW PGA Championship | England | €4,500,000 | Paul Casey (10) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 31 May | European Open | England | £1,800,000 | Christian Cévaër (2) | 48 | | |
| 7 Jun | Celtic Manor Wales Open | Wales | £1,800,000 | Jeppe Huldahl (1) | 24 | | |
| 21 Jun | Saint-Omer Open | France | €600,000 | Christian Nilsson (1) | 18 | CHA | |
| 22 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$7,500,000 | Lucas Glover (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 28 Jun | BMW International Open | Germany | €2,000,000 | Nick Dougherty (3) | 36 | | |
| 5 Jul | Open de France Alstom | France | €4,000,000 | Martin Kaymer (3) | 44 | | |
| 12 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | £3,000,000 | Martin Kaymer (4) | 54 | | |
| 19 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | £4,200,000 | Stewart Cink (1) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 26 Jul | SAS Masters | Sweden | €1,000,000 | Ricardo González (4) | 24 | | |
| 2 Aug | Moravia Silesia Open | Czech Republic | €2,000,000 | Oskar Henningsson (1) | 24 | | |
| 9 Aug | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | United States | US$8,500,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 16 Aug | English Open | England | – | Cancelled | – | | |
| 16 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$7,500,000 | Yang Yong-eun (2) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 23 Aug | KLM Open | Netherlands | €1,800,000 | Simon Dyson (3) | 24 | | |
| 30 Aug | Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | £1,400,000 | Peter Hedblom (3) | 24 | | |
| 6 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €2,000,000 | Alex Norén (1) | 32 | ASA | |
| 13 Sep | Mercedes-Benz Championship | Germany | €2,000,000 | James Kingston (2) | 40 | | Limited-field event |
| 20 Sep | British Masters | England | – | Cancelled | – | | |
| 20 Sep 14 Jun | Austrian Golf Open | Austria | €1,000,000 | Rafa Cabrera-Bello (1) | 24 | | |
| 5 Oct | Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Simon Dyson (4) | 46 | | Pro-Am |
| 11 Oct | Madrid Masters | Spain | €1,500,000 | Ross McGowan (1) | 26 | | |
| 18 Oct | Portugal Masters | Portugal | €3,000,000 | Lee Westwood (19) | 46 | | |
| 25 Oct | Castelló Masters Costa Azahar | Spain | €2,000,000 | Michael Jonzon (2) | 28 | | |
| 1 Nov | Barclays Singapore Open | Singapore | US$5,000,000 | Ian Poulter (8) | 46 | ASA | New to European Tour |
| 1 Nov | Volvo World Match Play Championship | Spain | €3,250,000 | Ross Fisher (3) | 42 | | Limited-field event |
| 8 Nov | WGC-HSBC Champions | China | US$7,000,000 | Phil Mickelson (n/a) | 66 | | World Golf Championship |
| 15 Nov | JBWere Masters | Australia | A$1,500,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 28 | ANZ | |
| 15 Nov | UBS Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$2,500,000 | Grégory Bourdy (3) | 44 | ASA | |
| 22 Nov | Dubai World Championship | UAE | US$7,500,000 | Lee Westwood (20) | 56 | | New tournament 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 |
| 11 Jan | Royal Trophy | Thailand | €1,000,000 | Team Asia | n/a | Team event |
| 27 Sep | Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros | France | €1,150,000 | Team GB&I | n/a | Team event |
| 30 Nov | Omega Mission Hills World Cup | China | US$5,500,000 | Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari | n/a | Team event |

## Race to Dubai

The Race to Dubai was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.
| Pos. | Player | Majors | Majors | Majors | Majors | WGCs | WGCs | WGCs | WGCs | Principal events | Principal 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 | Top 10s in other ET events | Top 10s in other ET events | Tmts | Money | Money | Money |
| Pos. | Player | Mas | USO | Opn | PGA | WGC MP | WGC CA | WGC Inv | WGC Cha | BMW PGA | Dub | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Tmts | Reg. (€) | Bon. ($) | Total (€) |
| 1 | Westwood | 43rd | T23 | T3 | T3 | T17 | T61 | 9th | T8 | CUT | 1st | T3 | T7 | 2nd | T8 | T8 | T9 | 1st | T9 | 26 | 3,240,952 | 1,500,000 | 4,237,762 |
| 2 | McIlroy | T20 | T10 | T47 | T3 | T5 | T20 | T68 | 4th | 5th | 3rd | T2 | T3 | T5 | 1st | T7 | T2 | T5 | T2 | 25 | 2,862,413 | 1,125,000 | 3,610,020 |
| 3 | Kaymer | CUT | CUT | T34 | T6 | T17 | T35 | T60 | T6 | T11 | T37 | T2 | T4 | 1st | 1st | T2 | | | | 20 | 2,365,937 | 750,000 | 2,864,342 |
| 4 | R. Fisher | T30 | 5th | T13 | T19 | 4th | T46 | 43rd | T28 | 2nd | T42 | T8 | 1st | | | | | | | 22 | 2,132,459 | 600,000 | 2,531,183 |
| 5 | Casey | T20 | CUT | T47 | • | 2nd | T31 | WD | WD | 1st | • | 1st | T4 | T10 | | | | | | 14 | 2,014,063 | 525,000 | 2,362,947 |
| 6 | Ogilvy | T15 | T47 | CUT | T43 | 1st | T40 | T22 | T10 | • | T4 | T3 | | | | | | | | 13 | 1,903,771 | 450,000 | 2,202,814 |
| 7 | Wilson | CUT | T23 | T24 | T19 | T9 | T5 | T11 | T45 | CUT | T16 | 2nd | T6 | T2 | T5 | | | | | 25 | 1,736,035 | 412,500 | 2,010,158 |
| 8 | Dyson | • | CUT | • | • | • | • | • | T28 | T16 | T37 | T7 | T2 | T6 | 1st | T7 | T3 | 1st | 8th | 32 | 1,558,550 | 375,000 | 1,807,753 |
| 9 | Poulter | T20 | T18 | CUT | T19 | T9 | T13 | T15 | T45 | • | T9 | 3rd | 1st | T5 | | | | | | 15 | 1,549,187 | 337,500 | 1,773,470 |
| 10 | García | T38 | T10 | T38 | CUT | T33 | T31 | T22 | T23 | • | T7 | 1st | T8 | T7 | 4th | T9 | | | | 17 | 1,461,426 | 300,000 | 1,660,788 |
| 11 | Els | CUT | CUT | T8 | T6 | T5 | T20 | T29 | 2nd | T21 | T50 | T3 | T4 | | | | | | | 17 | 1,397,135 | 262,500 | 1,571,577 |
| 12 | McGowan | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | CUT | 2nd | T2 | 3rd | 6th | 1st | | | | | 30 | 1,396,826 | 243,750 | 1,558,808 |
| 13 | Kjeldsen | CUT | • | T27 | T6 | T33 | T7 | T68 | T10 | 3rd | T30 | 1st | T9 | T4 | | | | | | 26 | 1,379,731 | 225,000 | 1,529,253 |
| 14 | F. Molinari | • | T27 | T13 | T10 | • | • | • | T10 | T35 | T30 | T2 | T3 | 3rd | T6 | 2nd | T3 | | | 27 | 1,367,949 | 206,250 | 1,505,010 |
| 15 | Harrington | T35 | CUT | T65 | T10 | T33 | T20 | T2 | T25 | • | T4 | T5 | 3rd | | | | | | | 16 | 1,343,631 | 187,500 | 1,468,232 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Golfer of the Year | Lee Westwood |
| Players' Player of the Year | Lee Westwood |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Chris Wood |