# 2004 European Tour

The 2004 European Tour was the 33rd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.

## Changes for 2004

Changes from 2003 included two new tournaments, the Open de Sevilla and The Heritage, and the loss of the Benson & Hedges International Open, the Trophée Lancôme and the Nordic Open. The HSBC World Match Play Championship also became an official money-list event for the first time with an increased field determined by qualification criteria, which also meant it regained Official World Golf Ranking status, and the Mallorca Classic became a full European Tour event having been a dual-ranking event in 2003.

## Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2004 season.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes |
| 7 Dec | Omega Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$700,000 | Pádraig Harrington (8) | 26 | ASA | |
| 18 Jan | South African Airways Open | South Africa | £500,000 | Trevor Immelman (2) | 32 | AFR | |
| 25 Jan | Dunhill Championship | South Africa | £500,000 | Marcel Siem (1) | 18 | AFR | |
| 1 Feb | Johnnie Walker Classic | Thailand | £1,000,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (8) | 38 | ANZ, ASA | |
| 8 Feb | Heineken Classic | Australia | A$2,000,000 | Ernie Els (16) | 34 | ANZ | |
| 15 Feb | ANZ Championship | Australia | A$1,750,000 | Brian Davis (2) | 20 | ANZ | |
| 22 Feb | Carlsberg Malaysian Open | Malaysia | US$1,210,000 | Thongchai Jaidee (1) | 16 | ASA | |
| 29 Feb | WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship | United States | US$7,000,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) | 74 | | World Golf Championship |
| 7 Mar | Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | US$2,000,000 | Mark O'Meara (n/a) | 46 | | |
| 14 Mar | Qatar Masters | Qatar | US$1,500,000 | Joakim Haeggman (3) | 24 | | |
| 21 Mar | Caltex Singapore Masters | Singapore | US$900,000 | Colin Montgomerie (28) | 16 | ASA | |
| 28 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | €600,000 | Chris Hanell (1) | 24 | CHA | |
| 4 Apr | Algarve Open de Portugal | Portugal | €1,250,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (9) | 24 | | |
| 11 Apr | Masters Tournament | United States | US$6,000,000 | Phil Mickelson (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 18 Apr | Open de Sevilla | Spain | €1,000,000 | Ricardo González (3) | 24 | | New tournament |
| 25 Apr | Canarias Open de España | Spain | €1,650,000 | Christian Cévaër (1) | 24 | | |
| 3 May | Telecom Italia Open | Italy | €1,200,000 | Graeme McDowell (2) | 24 | | |
| 9 May | Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters | England | £1,600,000 | Barry Lane (5) | 30 | | |
| 16 May | BMW Asian Open | China | US$1,500,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (10) | 18 | ASA | |
| 23 May | Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe | Germany | €3,000,000 | Trevor Immelman (3) | 48 | | |
| 30 May | Volvo PGA Championship | England | €3,750,000 | Scott Drummond (1) | 64 | | Flagship event |
| 6 Jun | Celtic Manor Wales Open | Wales | £1,500,000 | Simon Khan (1) | 24 | | |
| 13 Jun | Diageo Championship at Gleneagles | Scotland | £1,400,000 | Miles Tunnicliff (2) | 24 | | |
| 20 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | €400,000 | Philippe Lima (1) | 16 | CHA | |
| 20 Jun | U.S. Open | United States | US$6,250,000 | Retief Goosen (10) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 27 Jun | Open de France | France | €3,000,000 | Jean-François Remésy (2) | 24 | | |
| 4 Jul | Smurfit European Open | Ireland | £2,400,000 | Retief Goosen (11) | 40 | | |
| 11 Jul | Barclays Scottish Open | Scotland | £2,200,000 | Thomas Levet (3) | 48 | | |
| 18 Jul | The Open Championship | Scotland | £4,000,000 | Todd Hamilton (n/a) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 25 Jul | Nissan Irish Open | Ireland | €1,900,000 | Brett Rumford (2) | 26 | | |
| 1 Aug | Scandinavian Masters | Sweden | €1,600,000 | Luke Donald (1) | 24 | | |
| 8 Aug | KLM Open | Netherlands | €1,200,000 | David Lynn (1) | 24 | | |
| 15 Aug | BMW Russian Open | Russia | US$500,000 | Gary Emerson (1) | 16 | CHA | |
| 15 Aug | PGA Championship | United States | US$6,250,000 | Vijay Singh (12) | 100 | | Major championship |
| 22 Aug | WGC-NEC Invitational | United States | US$7,000,000 | Stewart Cink (1) | 76 | | World Golf Championship |
| 29 Aug | BMW International Open | Germany | €1,800,000 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez (11) | 44 | | |
| 5 Sep | Omega European Masters | Switzerland | €1,600,000 | Luke Donald (2) | 30 | | |
| 12 Sep | Linde German Masters | Germany | €3,000,000 | Pádraig Harrington (9) | 42 | | |
| 26 Sep | The Heritage | England | €2,000,000 | Henrik Stenson (2) | 28 | | New tournament |
| 3 Oct | WGC-American Express Championship | Ireland | US$7,000,000 | Ernie Els (17) | 70 | | World Golf Championship |
| 10 Oct | Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | US$5,000,000 | Stephen Gallacher (1) | 54 | | Pro-Am |
| 17 Oct | HSBC World Match Play Championship | England | £1,660,000 | Ernie Els (18) | 48 | | Upgraded to official event Limited-field event |
| 17 Oct | Mallorca Classic | Spain | €1,000,000 | Sergio García (5) | 24 | | |
| 24 Oct | Open de Madrid | Spain | €1,000,000 | Richard Sterne (1) | 24 | | |
| 31 Oct | Volvo Masters Andalucía | Spain | €3,750,000 | Ian Poulter (6) | 44 | | 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 |
| 19 Sep | Ryder Cup | United States | n/a | Team Europe | n/a | Team event |
| 21 Nov | WGC-World Cup | Spain | US$4,000,000 | Paul Casey and Luke Donald | 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 | 4,061,905 |
| 2 | Retief Goosen | 2,325,202 |
| 3 | Pádraig Harrington | 1,910,394 |
| 4 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez | 1,886,237 |
| 5 | Thomas Levet | 1,727,945 |
| 6 | Graeme McDowell | 1,648,862 |
| 7 | Lee Westwood | 1,592,766 |
| 8 | Darren Clarke | 1,563,803 |
| 9 | Ian Poulter | 1,533,158 |
| 10 | David Howell | 1,501,502 |

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Ref. |
| Golfer of the Year | Vijay Singh | |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Scott Drummond | |