European Tour: Season Reflections

Post by golf journalist Nick Bonfield 

The European Tour season came to a close last weekend as Henrik Stenson held off a stellar chasing pack to defend his DP World Tour Championship title and record his first victory of 2014. It was a great win for Stenson, who clearly feels at home in desert-like conditions, but you can’t help but feel he’ll be disappointed about his finish at the PGA Championship, where he had a legitimate chance of victory. Still, finishing 2nd on the Race to Dubai – behind the awesome Rory McIlroy – is a very good way to follow up unprecedented success in 2013.

Something that frustrates me somewhat about the European Tour’s Finals Series, though, is the fact only one event is hosted in Europe – and that country, Turkey, has a capital city that straddles two continents. Further research reveals that, on the 2014 roster, 28 tournaments were staged outside Europe. To put that into context, 55% of European Tour events are now hosted outside Europe. Turkey aside, all of these take place between April and October.

It’s truly become a global tour, but is that really required, and indeed preferred by tour players? Is it right that more than half of the European Tour’s events take place outside of Europe? Asia is a growing market, but a number of players don’t particularly enjoy playing tournament golf there. Could there be scope for a regular European Tour season, with some sort of global circuit – comprising events in Asia, Australasia, Africa and South America – running from October or November to February or March? I know it’d be tricky, especially with the positioning of the FedEx Cup play-offs forcing the Finals Series to a later date - plus a huge number of other obstacles to overcome - but it’s certainly something that warrants thought.

Still, with improving economic conditions this side of the pond and a new European Tour Chief Executive just around the corner, perhaps we’ll see a renewed emphasis on Europe over the next couple of years. Who knows. But these are all factors out of our control, so let’s take some time to recognise some of this year’s stand-out performers, aside from Stenson and McIlroy, whose incredible season needs no further discussion.

Three European Tour stand-out performers

Jamie Donaldson

It’s been a tremendous year for the Welshman, who didn’t only excel in Europe but also made an impression over the pond in his first year competing in all the Major and WGC events. The Welshman recorded a career-high seven top-10 finishes, including a victory at the Czech Masters, which earned him a place in Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup team. At Gleneagles, he formed an inspired foursomes partnership with Lee Westwood and defeated Keegan Bradley in the Sunday singles to secure the Ryder Cup-winning point following the shot of his life on the par-4 16th.

Donaldson has reached a career-high 23rd in the Official World Golf Ranking after a season that saw him earn €2,269,907 and finish 4th on the Race to Dubai – his most lucrative European Tour season to date and a second successive top-5 Race to Dubai finish. Not bad for a golfer who was well outside the world’s top 100 at the start of 2012.

Victor Dubuisson

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Victor Dubuisson, who’s seemingly come from nowhere to become one of Europe’s most highly rated players and one of the best youngsters in world golf. The endearing Frenchman – one of the most enigmatic players on the tour – was a relative nobody before his victory in the 2013 Turkish Airlines Open, and a lot of people still hadn’t heard of him as he knocked out a succession of top names en route to the final of the WGC Match Play Championship this February.

Since then, he’s been in superb form. He may not have won, but he finished runner-up four times during the 2014 season, and recorded a further four top 10s. He excelled en debut at the Ryder Cup – vindicating the high-expectation levels placed on his shoulders - and secured fifth place on the Race to Dubai following a second-place finish in the DP World Tour Championship.

It’s been an amazing ascension up the world ranking for a golfer who was 108th in the world just a year ago. Now, he’s 17th.  Since last year’s victory in Turkey, he’s earned €3,330,000. Dubuisson is a class act and someone you’d expect to challenge for a major title in the not-too-distant future. Given his temperament, skill, calm demeanor and fearless performances this year, no one would be surprised if he won one of the big four in 2015.

Andy Sullivan

It’s easy to focus exclusively on the top of the rankings, but some notable performances came from those who finished slightly lower down. Dubuisson’s compatriot Alex Levy has enjoyed a break-out season (and one that could have been even better, had he not imploded on the back nine at the BMW Masters), Miguel Angel Jimenez broke his own record as the European Tour’s oldest winner (again!) and Thorbjorn Olesen won for the first time in more than two years at the ISPS Handa Perth International. But I’d like to focus on Andy Sullivan, arguably the leading contender in the ‘most improved’ category.

The diminutive Englishman hasn’t yet recorded a maiden victory, but he finished inside the top five on four occasions, including second place at the Trophee Hassan II. He’s earned €1,271,022 since his first European Tour event in 2011 and €864,348 of that came this year. What’s more, he ended the season 33rd on the Race to Dubai, some 65 places than his previous-best finish - 98th in 2013. He looks at home on the big stage and should record his first European Tour title next season.

The European Tour now takes a week-long break before the 2015 season gets underway at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.