The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. The European Tour is the primary golf tour in Europe and is second to the United States-based PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. The European Tour was established by the British-based Professional Golfers' Association, and responsibility was transferred to an independent PGA European Tour organisation in 1984. Most events on the PGA European Tour's three tours are held in Europe, but in recent years an increasing number have been held in other parts of the world outside of North America.
The PGA European Tour is a golfer-controlled organisation whose primary purpose is to maximise the income of tournament golfers. It is a company limited by guarantee and is run by a professional staff but controlled by its playing members via a board of directors composed of 12 elected past and present tour players and a tournament committee of 14 current players. As of 2007, the chairman of the board is Neil Coles and the chairman of the tournament committee is Thomas Bjørn.
The European-based events on the European Tour are nearly all played in Western Europe and the most lucrative of them take place in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain.
The PGA European Tour also conducts the Ryder Cup Matches in cooperation with the PGA of America.
Read more about PGA European Tour: History, Status and Prize Money, Order of Merit Winners, Leading Career Money Winners, Golfers and Rookies of The Year
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“The time to enjoy a European tour is about three weeks after you unpack.”
—George Ade (1866–1944)
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—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“Left Washington, September 6, on a tour through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.... Absent nineteen days. Received every where heartily. The country is again one and united! I am very happy to be able to feel that the course taken has turned out so well.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)