2020 European Tour
The 2020 European Tour is the 49th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972 and the 12th edition of the Race to Dubai.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the season, with many tournaments being rescheduled or cancelled. All four major championships were affected; the Open Championship was cancelled, and the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and PGA Championship were moved to dates much later in the year.
After a three-month hiatus following the Qatar Masters in early March, the tour resumed with a much changed schedule in July. Two dual-ranking events in Austria were followed by six-tournament stretch in the United Kingdom and three tournaments in Spain and Portugal, with the rescheduled major events starting in late September.
Planned changes from previous season
Rule changes
In order to combat slow play, from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship onwards, regulations were introduced whereby a player would receive a one-stroke penalty for two bad times during a tournament.Scheduling changes
With the addition of golf at the Olympic Games to the schedule in 2020, the Irish Open was moved to May from its previous date in July in order to avoid a clash with the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which had already been moved to avoid the Olympics. The Open de France was then scheduled opposite the WGC Invitational, and the British Masters was scheduled opposite the Olympics.Tournament changes
- Format change: the Scandinavian Invitation became the Scandinavian Mixed, a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour consisting of a field of 78 men and 78 women.
- No longer part of the schedule: ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, Belgian Knockout
Schedule
In-season changes
Due to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the Honma Hong Kong Open, originally scheduled for 28 November – 1 December 2019 as a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour, was rescheduled for 9–12 January 2020 as an Asian Tour event without European Tour sanctioning.The remainder of the schedule was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- On 14 February, the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and the Volvo China Open were postponed.
- On 6 March, the Magical Kenya Open was postponed.
- On 11 March, the Hero Indian Open was postponed, and the D+D Real Czech Masters was cancelled.
- On 13 March, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was cancelled.
- On 17 March, the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters was postponed.
- On 19 March, the GolfSixes Cascais was cancelled and the Made in Denmark was postponed.
- On 30 March, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was postponed.
- On 6 April, the Trophée Hassan II was postponed and the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed was cancelled. The R&A also announced the cancellation of the Open Championship in 2020, and the seasons other major championships were rescheduled.
- On 16 April, the PGA Tour announced the rescheduling of several tournaments, including the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
- On 17 April, the BMW International Open and Open de France were cancelled, and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open was postponed.
- On 1 May, the Omega European Masters was cancelled.
- On 28 May, the European Tour announced a revamp to the 2020 schedule including a 6-week "UK swing" in July and August, starting with the Betfred British Masters which was brought forward a week, finishing on 25 July. That would be followed by revivals of the English Open and the Wales Open, and three new tournaments: the English Championship, the Celtic Classic, and the UK Championship. In addition to this, four Rolex Series events were given rescheduled dates, with the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship being pushed into October, and the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai being played in December. It was also announced that the Porsche European Open had been cancelled.
- On 15 June, it was announced that both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour would return on 9 July with two consecutive dual-ranking events in Austria: the Austrian Open and the Euram Bank Open.
- On 3 July, it was announced that the Hero Indian Open had been cancelled.
- On 7 July, organisers announced the cancellation of the KLM Open.
- On 8 July, new dates were announced for the postponed Andalucía Masters; the Portugal Masters was also rescheduled, with both tournaments being held during September. Later in the day, it was announced that the 43rd Ryder Cup matches had been postponed until 2021.
- On 10 July, new dates in November were announced for the Kenya Open, originally scheduled for March. The Challenge Tour's Open de Portugal was also added to the schedule as a dual-ranking event; held in September following the Portugal Masters, the addition created a three event "Iberian Swing" starting with the Andalucía Masters.
- On 13 July, the cancellation of the Mutuactivos Open de España was announced after suitable dates could not be found in the revised schedule.
- On 27 July, the cancellation of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was announced, with organisers citing complexities of accommodating the European Tour's COVID-19 safety plan given the event's scale as an international pro-am and it's traditional use of three separate venues.
Official events
The following table lists official events for 2019–20.| Date | Tournament | Host country | Winner | OWGR points | Race to Dubai points | Purse | Other tours | Notes |
| Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | Postponed | – | 2,000 | $1,500,000 | ASA | ||
| Alfred Dunhill Championship | South Africa |  Pablo Larrazábal | 19 | 2,750 | €1,500,000 | AFR | ||
| AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open | Mauritius |  Rasmus Højgaard | 17 | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | AFR, ASA | ||
| Australian PGA Championship | Australia |  Adam Scott | 20 | 2,000 | A$1,500,000 | ANZ | ||
| South African Open | South Africa |  Branden Grace | 32 | 2,000 | ZAR17,500,000 | AFR | ||
| Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship | UAE |  Lee Westwood | 50 | 7,000 | $7,000,000 | Rolex Series event | ||
| Omega Dubai Desert Classic | UAE | Lucas Herbert | 48 | 4,250 | $3,250,000 | |||
| Saudi International | Saudi Arabia |  Graeme McDowell | 48 | 4,250 | $3,500,000 | |||
| ISPS Handa Vic Open | Australia | Min Woo Lee | 20 | 2,000 | A$1,600,000 | ANZ | ||
| WGC-Mexico Championship | Mexico |  Patrick Reed | 70 | 9,000 | $10,500,000 | World Golf Championships | ||
| Oman Open | Oman |  Sami Välimäki | 24 | 2,750 | $1,750,000 | |||
| Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | Qatar | Jorge Campillo | 24 | 2,750 | $1,750,000 | |||
| Hero Indian Open | India | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | $1,750,000 | ASA | ||
| WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play | United States | Cancelled | – | 9,000 | $10,500,000 | World Golf Championships | ||
| TBD | Maybank Championship | Malaysia | Postponed | 3,500 | $3,000,000 | ASA | ||
| TBD | Volvo China Open | China | Postponed | 3,500 | CNY20,000,000 | ASA | ||
| TBD | Made in Denmark | Denmark | Postponed | 4,250 | €3,000,000 | |||
| TBD | Dubai Duty Free Irish Open | Ireland | Postponed | 7,000 | $7,000,000 | Rolex Series event | ||
| TBD | Trophée Hassan II | Morocco | Postponed | 3,500 | €2,500,000 | |||
| Scandinavian Mixed | Sweden | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | €1,500,000 | LET | Field of 78 men and 78 women | |
| BMW International Open | Germany | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | €2,000,000 | |||
| Open de France | France | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | €1,500,000 | |||
| Austrian Open | Austria |  Marc Warren | 18 | 1,000 | €500,000 | CHA | Not played since 2018 | |
| Euram Bank Open | Austria |  Joël Stalter | 18 | 1,000 | €500,000 | CHA | New to European Tour | |
| The Open Championship | England | Cancelled | – | 10,000 | Major championship | |||
| Betfred British Masters | England |  Renato Paratore | 24 | 2,000 | €1,250,000 | |||
| Hero Open | England | Sam Horsfield | 24 | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | Not played since 2002 | ||
| WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational | United States | 76 | 9,000 | $10,500,000 | World Golf Championships | |||
| English Championship | England | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | New tournament | ||||
| PGA Championship | United States | 100 | 10,000 | $11,000,000 | Major championship | |||
| Celtic Classic | Wales | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | New tournament | ||||
| ISPS Handa Wales Open | Wales | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | Not played since 2014 | ||||
| D+D Real Czech Masters | Czech Republic | Cancelled | – | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | |||
| ISPS Handa UK Championship | England | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | New tournament | ||||
| Omega European Masters | Switzerland | Cancelled | – | 3,500 | €2,500,000 | |||
| Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters | Spain | |||||||
| Porsche European Open | Germany | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | €2,000,000 | |||
| Portugal Masters | Portugal | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | |||||
| U.S. Open | United States | 100 | 10,000 | $12,500,000 | Major championship | |||
| KLM Open | Netherlands | Cancelled | – | 2,750 | €2,000,000 | |||
| Open de Portugal | Portugal | 1,000 | €500,000 | CHA | Last played on the European Tour in 2017 | |||
| Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Scotland | Cancelled | – | $5,000,000 | ||||
| Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open | Scotland | Rolex Series event | ||||||
| TBD | Italian Open | Italy | Pending | 7,000 | $7,000,000 | Rolex Series event | ||
| BMW PGA Championship | England | 64 | Flagship event; Rolex Series event | |||||
| Mutuactivos Open de España | Spain | Cancelled | – | |||||
| WGC-HSBC Champions | China | 9,000 | $10,500,000 | World Golf Championships | ||||
| Turkish Airlines Open | Turkey | 9,000 | $7,000,000 | Rolex Series event | ||||
| Masters Tournament | United States | 100 | 10,000 | $11,500,000 | Major championship | |||
| Magical Kenya Open | Kenya | 2,000 | €1,000,000 | |||||
| Nedbank Golf Challenge | South Africa | AFR | Rolex Series event | |||||
| Australian PGA Championship | Australia | 2,000 | A$1,600,00 | ANZ | ||||
| DP World Tour Championship, Dubai | UAE | Tour Championship; Rolex Series event |
Unofficial events
The following events appear on the schedule, but do not carry official money.| Date | Tournament | Host country | Winner | OWGR points | Notes |
| GolfSixes Cascais | Portugal | Cancelled | n/a | Sixteen 2-man teams Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |
| Olympic men's golf competition | Japan | Postponed | – | 60-player field Postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic | |
| Ryder Cup | United States | Postponed | n/a | Two 12-man teams Postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Location of tournaments
The tournament locations below represent the original schedule, before any changes due to COVID-19 pandemic.Race to Dubai points leaders
Current Race to Dubai standings of top 10 players :UK Swing Order of Merit
With the return of the European Tour after the COVID-19 hiatus and as part of the new Golf for Good initiative – which underpinned all events for the remainder of the 2020 season – a mini Order of Merit ran for all six events in the "UK Swing", with the top ten players sharing an additional £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice. The top ten, not otherwise exempt from the final standings of the UK Swing Order of Merit received entry into the 2020 U.S. Open.Current UK Swing Order of Merit standings :
| Place | Player | Betfred British Masters | Hero Open | English Championship | Celtic Classic | ISPS Handa Wales Open | ISPS Handa UK Championship | Total pts | Tmts | Donation |
| 1 | Renato Paratore | 1st 335 | 335 | 1 | ||||||
| 2 | Rasmus Højgaard | 2nd 222 | 222 | 1 | ||||||
| 3 | Justin Harding | 3rd 125 | 125 | 1 | ||||||
| 4 | Robert Rock | T4 85 | 85 | 1 | ||||||
| 4 | Andy Sullivan | T4 85 | 85 | 1 | ||||||
| 4 | Dale Whitnell | T4 85 | 85 | 1 | ||||||
| 7 | Oliver Fisher | 7th 60 | 60 | 1 | ||||||
| 8 | Jonathan Caldwell | T8 47 | 47 | 1 | ||||||
| 8 |  Ryan Fox | T8 47 | 47 | 1 | ||||||
| 10 |  Jens Fahrbring | T10 36 | 36 | 1 | ||||||
| 10 | Sam Horsfield | T10 36 | 36 | 1 | ||||||
| 10 | Graeme Storm | T10 36 | 36 | 1 | ||||||
| 10 | Ben Stow | T10 36 | 36 | 1 |