2019 European Tour
The 2019 European Tour was the 48th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
Changes for 2019
Rule changes
From January 1, 2019 onwards, tournaments followed the new rules released by the USGA and The R&A which were designed to simplify the rule book and speed up the pace of play. The most noticeable changes included golfers being able to putt on the green with the flag remaining in, and drops being made from knee rather than shoulder height.Scheduling changes
As announced in 2017, the PGA Championship was moved from August to May, starting in 2019. The PGA of America cited the addition of golf to the Summer Olympics, as well as cooler weather enabling a wider array of options for host courses, as reasoning for the change. It was also believed that the PGA Tour wished to re-align its season so that its FedEx Cup Playoffs would not have to compete with the start of the NFL season in early September, since both United States broadcast partners are NFL broadcast partners.Consequently, the European Tour moved their flagship event; the BMW PGA Championship, from the congested May date to late September, four weeks after the end of the 2018–19 PGA Tour season. It was hoped the date would attract more top names.
Changes to the Race to Dubai
The number of Race to Dubai points available in the Final Series was increased, and the field size reduced. The aim was to make more players still have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai entering the Final Series. In addition, although the prize money was not increased, the bonus pool of would now be split among the top five players rather than the top ten. The money saved from restricting field sizes was used solely to increase the first prizes, which means that the tournaments would not have the standard prize fund distribution, and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai would have the largest tournament first prize in golf of.Tournament changes
- New tournament: Saudi International.
- Returning tournament: Alfred Dunhill Championship
- Tournaments on the European Tour schedule for the first time: ISPS Handa Vic Open, Kenya Open.
- Changes to the Rolex Series: the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship replaced the Open de France.
- No longer part of the schedule: Joburg Open, Tshwane Open, Sicilian Open, Fiji International, Shot Clock Masters.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2019 season.| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse | points | Winner | OWGR points | Other tours | Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 Nov | Honma Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | US$2,000,000 | 2,750 |  Unofficial eventsThe following events were sanctioned by the European Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
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