# 2001 European Tour

The 2001 European Tour, titled as the 2001 PGA European Tour, was the 30th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 2001

There were several changes from the previous season, with the Dunhill Links Championship replacing the Dunhill Cup, the Open de Madrid replacing the Turespaña Masters, the Standard Life Loch Lomond being rebranded as the revived Scottish Open, the addition the Caltex Singapore Masters, the Argentine Open and the São Paulo Brazil Open; the return of the Estoril Open; and the loss of the Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open and the Belgian Open.
The terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September led to changes on the tour schedule with the WGC-American Express Championship being cancelled and the Ryder Cup matches at The Belfry being postponed until 2002. The Estoril Open was also cancelled in the wake of the attacks and was replaced on the schedule with a revival of the Cannes Open.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2001 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 19 Nov | Johnnie Walker Classic | Thailand | £800,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 24 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 7 Jan | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | Australia | US$5,000,000 | Steve Stricker (n/a) | 58 | | World Golf Championship |
| 21 Jan | Alfred Dunhill Championship | South Africa | £500,000 | Adam Scott (1) | 18 | AFR | |
| 28 Jan | Mercedes-Benz South African Open | South Africa | US$1,000,000 | Mark McNulty (16) | 32 | AFR | |
| 4 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Michael Campbell (4) | 20 | ANZ | |
| 11 Feb | Greg Norman Holden International | Australia | A$2,000,000 | Aaron Baddeley (n/a) | 22 | ANZ | |
| 18 Feb | Carlsberg Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$910,000 | Vijay Singh (10) | 18 | ASA | |
| 25 Feb | Caltex Singapore Masters | Singapore | US$850,000 | Vijay Singh (11) | 24 | ASA | New tournament |
| 4 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$1,500,000 | Thomas Bjørn (6) | 44 | | |
| 11 Mar | Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$750,000 | Tony Johnstone (6) | 24 | | |
| 18 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | €550,000 | Des Smyth (8) | 24 | | |
| 25 Mar | São Paulo Brazil Open | Brazil | €750,000 | Darren Fichardt (1) | 24 | | |
| 1 Apr | Open de Argentina | Argentina | US$700,000 | Ángel Cabrera (1) | 24 | ARG | New to European Tour |
| 8 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$5,600,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 15 Apr | Moroccan Open | Morocco | €650,000 | Ian Poulter (2) | 24 | | |
| 22 Apr | Via Digital Open de España | Spain | €1,200,000 | Robert Karlsson (4) | 24 | | |
| 29 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,000,000 | Phillip Price (2) | 24 | | |
| 6 May | Novotel Perrier Open de France | France | €1,300,000 | José María Olazábal (21) | 24 | | |
| 13 May | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | £1,000,000 | Henrik Stenson (1) | 48 | | |
| 20 May | Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe | Germany | €2,700,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 54 | | |
| 28 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | €3,200,000 | Andrew Oldcorn (3) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 3 Jun | Victor Chandler British Masters | England | £1,200,000 | Thomas Levet (2) | 32 | | |
| 10 Jun | Compass Group English Open | England | £800,000 | Peter O'Malley (3) | 28 | | |
| 17 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$5,000,000 | Retief Goosen (5) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 24 Jun | Great North Open | England | £800,000 | Andrew Coltart (2) | 24 | | |
| 1 Jul | Murphy's Irish Open | Ireland | €1,600,000 | Colin Montgomerie (25) | 30 | | |
| 8 Jul | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | £2,000,000 | Darren Clarke (8) | 46 | | |
| 15 Jul | Scottish Open | Scotland | £2,200,000 | Retief Goosen (6) | 50 | | |
| 22 Jul | The Open Championship | England | £3,300,000 | David Duval (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 29 Jul | TNT Dutch Open | Netherlands | €1,800,000 | Bernhard Langer (40) | 34 | | |
| 5 Aug | Volvo Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | €1,800,000 | Colin Montgomerie (26) | 40 | | |
| 12 Aug | Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open | Wales | £750,000 | Paul McGinley (3) | 24 | | |
| 19 Aug | North West of Ireland Open | Ireland | €350,000 | Tobias Dier (1) | 16 | CHA | |
| 19 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$5,200,000 | David Toms (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 26 Aug | Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship | Scotland | £1,000,000 | Paul Casey (1) | 24 | | |
| 26 Aug | WGC-NEC Invitational | United States | US$5,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 68 | | World Golf Championship |
| 2 Sep | BMW International Open | Germany | €1,800,000 | John Daly (3) | 42 | | |
| 9 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €1,500,000 | Ricardo González (1) | 24 | | |
| 16 Sep | WGC-American Express Championship | United States | – | Cancelled | – | | World Golf Championship |
| 23 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | €1,400,000 | Sergio García (3) | 28 | | |
| 7 Oct | Linde German Masters | Germany | €2,700,000 | Bernhard Langer (41) | 44 | | |
| 14 Oct | Estoril Open | Portugal | – | Cancelled | – | | |
| 14 Oct | Cannes Open | France | €550,000 | Jorge Berendt (1) | 24 | | |
| 21 Oct | Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Paul Lawrie (4) | 48 | | New tournament Pro-Am |
| 28 Oct | Telefónica Open de Madrid | Spain | €1,400,000 | Retief Goosen (7) | 30 | | |
| 4 Nov | Atlanet Italian Open | Italy | €1,000,000 | Grégory Havret (1) | 24 | | |
| 11 Nov | Volvo Masters Andalucía | Spain | US$3,000,000 | Pádraig Harrington (4) | 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 |
| 30 Sep | Ryder Cup | England | n/a | Postponed | n/a | Team event |
| 14 Oct | Cisco World Match Play Championship | England | £1,000,000 | Ian Woosnam | n/a | Limited-field event |
| 18 Nov | WGC-World Cup | Japan | US$3,000,000 | Ernie Els and Retief Goosen | 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 | Retief Goosen | 2,862,806 |
| 2 | Pádraig Harrington | 2,090,166 |
| 3 | Darren Clarke | 1,988,055 |
| 4 | Ernie Els | 1,716,287 |
| 5 | Colin Montgomerie | 1,578,676 |
| 6 | Michael Campbell | 1,577,130 |
| 7 | Thomas Bjørn | 1,474,802 |
| 8 | Paul McGinley | 1,464,434 |
| 9 | Paul Lawrie | 1,428,831 |
| 10 | Niclas Fasth | 1,224,588 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Golfer of the Year | Retief Goosen | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Paul Casey | |