# 1988 European Tour

The 1988 European Tour, titled as the 1988 Volvo Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Volvo title sponsorship

In May 1987, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Volvo, being renamed as the Volvo Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth £10,000,000 over five years.

## Changes for 1988

The season was made up of 30 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events".
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Open de Baleares, the Biarritz Open, the English Open and the Volvo Masters; the return of the Torras Hostench Barcelona Open, which had been cancelled due to bad weather in 1987; and the loss of the Lawrence Batley International. The Moroccan Open, originally scheduled to open the season, was initially postponed until October but ultimately cancelled.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1988 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (£) | Winner | OWGR points | Notes |
| 13 Mar | Mallorca Open de Baleares | Spain | 200,000 | Seve Ballesteros (35) | 20 | New tournament |
| 20 Mar | Torras Hostench Barcelona Open | Spain | 200,000 | David Whelan (1) | 18 | |
| 3 Apr | AGF Biarritz Open | France | 150,000 | David Llewellyn (1) | 16 | New tournament |
| 10 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$1,000,000 | Sandy Lyle (14) | 100 | Major championship |
| 17 Apr | Cannes Open | France | 200,000 | Mark McNulty (7) | 20 | |
| 24 Apr | Cepsa Madrid Open | Spain | 200,000 | Derrick Cooper (1) | 22 | |
| 1 May | Portuguese Open | Portugal | 200,000 | Mike Harwood (1) | 18 | |
| 8 May | Epson Grand Prix of Europe Matchplay Championship | Wales | 275,000 | Bernhard Langer (19) | 40 | Limited-field event |
| 15 May | Peugeot Spanish Open | Spain | 175,000 | Mark James (9) | 38 | |
| 22 May | Lancia Italian Open | Italy | 225,000 | Greg Norman (12) | 24 | |
| 30 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | 300,000 | Ian Woosnam (9) | 44 | |
| 5 Jun | Dunhill British Masters | England | 250,000 | Sandy Lyle (15) | 42 | |
| 12 Jun | Wang Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity | England | 200,000 | Rodger Davis (3) | 20 | Pro-Am |
| 19 Jun | Volvo Belgian Open | Belgium | 200,000 | José María Olazábal (3) | 16 | |
| 19 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$1,000,000 | Curtis Strange (n/a) | 100 | Major championship |
| 26 Jun | Peugeot Open de France | France | 275,000 | Nick Faldo (14) | 40 | |
| 2 Jul | Monte Carlo Open | France | 200,000 | José Rivero (3) | 24 | |
| 9 Jul | Bell's Scottish Open | Scotland | 250,000 | Barry Lane (1) | 44 | |
| 17 Jul | The Open Championship | England | 500,000 | Seve Ballesteros (36) | 100 | Major championship |
| 24 Jul | KLM Dutch Open | Netherlands | 250,000 | Mark Mouland (2) | 34 | |
| 31 Jul | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Sweden | 250,000 | Seve Ballesteros (37) | 34 | |
| 7 Aug | Benson & Hedges International Open | England | 250,000 | Peter Baker (1) | 38 | |
| 14 Aug | PLM Open | Sweden | 200,000 | Frank Nobilo (1) | 16 | |
| 14 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$1,000,000 | Jeff Sluman (n/a) | 100 | Major championship |
| 21 Aug | Carroll's Irish Open | Ireland | 225,000 | Ian Woosnam (10) | 42 | |
| 28 Aug | German Open | West Germany | 275,000 | Seve Ballesteros (38) | 38 | |
| 4 Sep | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | Switzerland | 400,000 | Chris Moody (1) | 44 | |
| 11 Sep | Panasonic European Open | England | 300,000 | Ian Woosnam (11) | 42 | |
| 18 Sep | Trophée Lancôme | France | 400,000 | Seve Ballesteros (39) | 46 | Limited-field event |
| 25 Sep | German Masters | West Germany | 300,000 | José María Olazábal (4) | 44 | |
| 2 Oct | English Open | England | 175,000 | Howard Clark (11) | 16 | New tournament |
| 9 Oct 6 Mar | Moroccan Open | Morocco | – | Cancelled | – | |
| 23 Oct | BNP Jersey Open | Jersey | 125,000 | Des Smyth (6) | 16 | |
| 30 Oct | Volvo Masters | Spain | 350,000 | Nick Faldo (15) | 44 | 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 (£) | Winner(s) | OWGR points | Notes |
| 10 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 275,000 | Sandy Lyle | 32 | Limited-field event |
| 16 Oct | Dunhill Cup | Scotland | US$1,000,000 | Team England | n/a | Team event |
| 18 Oct | Equity & Law Challenge | England | 125,000 | Ronan Rafferty | n/a | |
| 27 Oct | UAP European Under-25 Championship | France | n/a | Jean van de Velde | n/a | |
| 6 Nov | Europcar Cup | France | n/a | Team Sweden | n/a | Team event |
| 13 Nov | Benson & Hedges Trophy | Spain | 200,000 | Mark McNulty and Marie-Laure Taya | n/a | Team event |
| 11 Dec | World Cup | Australia | US$750,000 | Ben Crenshaw and Mark McCumber | n/a | Team event |
| 11 Dec | World Cup Individual Trophy | Australia | US$750,000 | Ben Crenshaw | n/a | |
| 18 Dec | Kirin Cup | United States | US$1,000,000 | Team USA | n/a | 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 Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 451,560 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo | 347,971 |
| 3 | José María Olazábal | 285,964 |
| 4 | Ian Woosnam | 234,991 |
| 5 | Sandy Lyle | 186,018 |
| 6 | Mark McNulty | 180,992 |
| 7 | Des Smyth | 171,951 |
| 8 | Mark James | 152,900 |
| 9 | Ronan Rafferty | 132,395 |
| 10 | José Rivero | 131,079 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Golfer of the Year | Seve Ballesteros | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Colin Montgomerie | |