Golf tour season
The2006 European Tour was the 35th season of theEuropean Tour , the mainprofessional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
Changes from the2005 season included four new tournaments, theHSBC Champions in China, theAbu Dhabi Golf Championship , theBA-CA Golf Open , which returned to the European Tour schedule for the first time since 1996, and theRoyal Trophy , a team event contested between teams from Europe and Asia.[ 1] Volvo China Open and theImperial Collection Russian Open became a full European Tour event having previously been a dual-ranking event with theChallenge Tour . TheGerman Masters , theHeineken Classic , and theAbama Open de Canarias were lost from the tour schedule, as was theNew Zealand Open which was held later in the year as part of the2007 season .
The following table lists official events during the 2006 season.[ 2] [ 3]
Date Tournament Host country Purse Winner[ b] OWGR Other[ c] Notes 13 Nov HSBC Champions China US$5,000,000 David Howell (3)48 AFR ,[ d] ANZ ,[ e] ASA [ f] New limited-field event 27 Nov Volvo China Open China US$1,300,000 Paul Casey (5)18 ASA 4 Dec UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong US$1,200,000 Colin Montgomerie (30)28 ASA 11 Dec Dunhill Championship South Africa €1,000,000 Ernie Els (22)20 AFR 18 Dec South African Airways Open South Africa €1,000,000 Retief Goosen (13)32 AFR [ g] 22 Jan Abu Dhabi Golf Championship UAE US$2,000,000 Chris DiMarco (n/a)42 New tournament 29 Jan Commercialbank Qatar Masters Qatar US$2,000,000 Henrik Stenson (3)44 ASA 5 Feb Dubai Desert Classic UAE US$2,400,000 Tiger Woods (n/a)48 12 Feb Johnnie Walker Classic Australia £1,250,000 Kevin Stadler (n/a)44 ANZ ,ASA 19 Feb Maybank Malaysian Open Malaysia US$1,250,000 Charlie Wi (1)20 ASA 26 Feb WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship United States US$7,500,000 Geoff Ogilvy (1)76 World Golf Championship 5 Mar Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open Indonesia US$1,000,000 Simon Dyson (1)20 ASA 12 Mar OSIM Singapore Masters Singapore US$1,000,000 Mardan Mamat (1)20 ASA 19 Mar TCL Classic China US$1,000,000 Johan Edfors (1)24 ASA 26 Mar Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos Portugal €700,000 Jean van de Velde (2)24 2 Apr Algarve Open de Portugal Portugal €1,250,000 Paul Broadhurst (6)24 9 Apr Masters Tournament United States US$7,000,000 Phil Mickelson 100 Major championship 16 Apr Volvo China Open China US$1,800,000 Jeev Milkha Singh (1)24 ASA 23 Apr BMW Asian Open China US$1,800,000 Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (2)30 ASA 30 Apr Andalucía Open de España Valle Romano Spain €1,650,000 Niclas Fasth (4)24 7 May Telecom Italia Open Italy €1,400,000 Francesco Molinari (1)24 14 May Quinn Direct British Masters England £1,800,000 Johan Edfors (2)42 21 May Nissan Irish Open Ireland €2,200,000 Thomas Bjørn (9)38 28 May BMW Championship England €4,250,000 David Howell (4)64 Flagship event 4 Jun Celtic Manor Wales Open Wales £1,500,000 Robert Karlsson (6)28 11 Jun BA-CA Golf Open Austria €1,300,000 Markus Brier (1)24 18 Jun Aa St Omer Open France €400,000 César Monasterio (1)18 CHA 18 Jun U.S. Open United States US$6,250,000 Geoff Ogilvy 100 Major championship 25 Jun Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Scotland £1,400,000 Paul Casey (6)24 2 Jul Open de France Alstom France €4,000,000 John Bickerton (2)40 9 Jul Smurfit Kappa European Open Ireland £2,400,000 Stephen Dodd (3)46 16 Jul Barclays Scottish Open Scotland £2,400,000 Johan Edfors (3)50 23 Jul The Open Championship England £4,000,000 Tiger Woods 100 Major championship 30 Jul Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe Germany €3,600,000 Robert Karlsson (7)50 6 Aug EnterCard Scandinavian Masters Sweden €1,600,000 Marc Warren (1)24 13 Aug KLM Open Netherlands €1,600,000 Simon Dyson (2)24 20 Aug Imperial Collection Russian Open Russia US$1,000,000 Alejandro Cañizares (1)24 20 Aug PGA Championship United States US$6,800,000 Tiger Woods 100 Major championship 27 Aug WGC-Bridgestone Invitational United States US$7,500,000 Tiger Woods (n/a)76 World Golf Championship 3 Sep BMW International Open Germany €2,000,000 Henrik Stenson (4)44 10 Sep Omega European Masters Switzerland €2,000,000 Bradley Dredge (2)24 17 Sep HSBC World Match Play Championship England £1,660,000 Paul Casey (7)48 Limited-field event 17 Sep XXXII Banco Madrid Valle Romano Spain €1,000,000 Ian Poulter (7)24 1 Oct WGC-American Express Championship England US$7,500,000 Tiger Woods (n/a)70 World Golf Championship 8 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Scotland US$5,000,000 Pádraig Harrington (10)50 Pro-Am 22 Oct Mallorca Classic Spain €1,750,000 Niclas Fasth (5)28 29 Oct Volvo Masters Spain €4,000,000 Jeev Milkha Singh (2)48 Tour Championship
The following events were sanctioned by the European Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
TheOrder of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated inEuros .[ 4] [ 5]
Position Player Prize money (€ ) 1 Pádraig Harrington 2,489,337 2 Paul Casey 2,454,084 3 David Howell 2,321,116 4 Robert Karlsson 2,044,936 5 Ernie Els 1,716,208 6 Henrik Stenson 1,709,359 7 Luke Donald 1,658,060 8 Ian Poulter 1,589,070 9 Colin Montgomerie 1,534,748 10 Johan Edfors 1,505,583
^ Tiger Woods won five events, but was not a European Tour member.^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of European Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for European Tour members and are inclusive of the three United States-basedmajor championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. ^ AFR −Sunshine Tour ; ANZ −PGA Tour of Australasia ; ASA −Asian Tour ; CHA −Challenge Tour . ^ Sunshine Tour unofficial event ^ PGA Tour of Australasia unofficial event ^ Asian Tour unofficial event ^ Sunshine Tour flagship event
Paul Casey (3)[a]
Johan Edfors (3)
Pádraig Harrington
Marc Warren
Team Europe
Bernhard Langer and
Ernie Els
