Golfers with most European Tour wins

This is a list of golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

ers who have won eight or more events on the European Tour since it was established in 1972. There are some complications in preparing such a list, and different publications have produced different numbers. This list is what the European Tour reports the victories being according to their own player guide.

The number of wins a player can accumulate on the European Tour depends in part on how many years he devotes to the tour. There have always been some leading European players or European Tour members from outside Europe who have gone on to play part or full time on the U.S.-based PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

and cut back their commitments in Europe, and this seems to be an increasing trend.

Many of the players on the list have won many events on other tours

Professional golf tours

Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women, with each tour being based in a specific geographical region, although some of their tournaments may be held in other...

and unofficial events. The numbers in the "Majors" column are the total number of major championships

Men's major golf championships

The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...

the player won in his career whether or not he was a member of the European Tour at the time. Players under 50 years of age are shown in bold.

This list is up to date through 6 November 2011.

Rank	Name	Lifespan	Country	Wins	Majors Men's major golf championships The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...	Winning span
1	Seve Ballesteros	1957–2011		50	5	1976–1995
2	Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion, and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...	1957–		42	2	1980–2002
3	Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...	1975–		38	14	1997–2009
4	Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31...	1963–		31	0	1989–2007
5	Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...	1957–		30	6	1977–1996
6	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...	1958–		29	1	1982–1997
7	Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...	1969–		26	3	1994–2010
8	José María Olazábal José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.-Career outline:...	1966–		23	2	1986–2005
T9	Sam Torrance Sam Torrance Sam Torrance OBE is a Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1970s to the late 1990s, with 21 Tour wins. Torrance was a member of European Ryder Cup teams on eight occasions, from 1981 to 1995 consecutively; he was...	1953–		21	0	1976–1998
T9	Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...	1973–		21	0	1996–2011
T11	Mark James	1953–		18	0	1978–1997
	Sandy Lyle Sandy Lyle Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s...	1958–		18	2	1979–1992
	Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Angel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 18 times on the European Tour.-Early years:...	1964–		18	0	1992–2010
14	Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty...	1953–	/	16	0	1979–2001
T15	Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S...	1969–		14	2	1996–2007
	Pádraig Harrington Padraig Harrington Pádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...	1971–		14	3	1996–2008
	Greg Norman Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...	1955–		14	2	1977–1994
	Darren Clarke Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the European Tour and has previously played on the PGA Tour. He has won 22 tournaments worldwide on a number of golf's main tours including the European Tour, the PGA Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the...	1968–		14	1	1993–2011
T19	Vijay Singh Vijay Singh Vijay Singh, CF , nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer who was Number 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He has won three major championships and was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008...	1963–		13	3	1989–2008
T19	Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won thirteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1999 he also became the first Dane to qualify for a European Ryder Cup team...	1971–		13	0	1996–2011
T21	Paul Casey Paul Casey Paul Alexander Casey is an English golfer who is a member of the world's top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009 he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Rankings....	1977–		11	0	2001–2011
	Howard Clark	1954–		11	0	1978–1988
	Robert Karlsson Robert Karlsson Robert Karlsson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and as of 2011 on the PGA Tour.-Career:...	1969–		11	0	1995–2010
	Ian Poulter Ian Poulter Ian James Poulter is an English professional golfer who is a member of the world's top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has previously been as high as number five in the world rankings...	1976–		11	0	2000–2011
T25	\|Bernard Gallacher Bernard Gallacher Bernard Gallacher, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer.Gallacher was born in Bathgate, Scotland. He took up golf at the age of eleven. In 1965 he won the Lothians Golf Assocation Boys Championship. He won the 1967 Scottish Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship and turned professional the same...	1949–		10	0	1972–1984
	Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings...	1980–		10	0	1999–2011
	Graham Marsh Graham Marsh Graham Vivian Marsh MBE was one of the leading Australian professional golfers of his generation.-Career outline:Marsh was born in Kalgoorlie, Australia...	1944–		10	0	1972–1985
	Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer. He became the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 February 2011 after his runner-up finish in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship....	1984–		10	1	2008–2011
T29	Brian Barnes Brian Barnes (golfer) Brian Barnes is a professional golfer. He was born in Addington, Surrey, England, and lives in England, but he represented Scotland at the international level...	1945–		9	0	1972–1981
T29	Manuel Piñero Manuel Piñero Manuel Piñero Sanchez is a Spanish professional golfer.Piñero was born in Badajoz. He turned professional in 1968 and established himself on the European Tour in the early 1970s. He won nine titles on the Tour, the most prestigious of them the 1977 British PGA Championship...	1952–		9	0	1974–1985
T31	Gordon Brand, Jnr Gordon Brand, Jnr Gordon Brand, Jnr is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.Brand was born in Kirkcaldy. He turned professional in 1981 and quickly achieved success. He won that year's European Tour Qualifying School, and went on to win two European Tour events in his rookie season...	1958–		8	0	1982–1993
	Michael Campbell Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell, CNZM is a New Zealand golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He is a member of the European Tour.Ethnically, he is predominantly Māori, from the Ngati...	1969–		8	1	2000–2005
	Tony Jacklin Tony Jacklin Anthony Jacklin CBE is an English golfer, who was the most successful British player of his generation. He was also the most successful European Ryder Cup captain ever.-Early life and education:...	1944–		8	2	1972–1982
	Eduardo Romero Eduardo Romero Eduardo Alejandro Romero is an Argentine professional golfer.Romero was born in Córdoba. He turned professional in 1982 at a relatively advanced age...	1954–		8	0	1989–2002
	Adam Scott	1980–		8	0	2003–2011
	Des Smyth Des Smyth Desmond John Smyth is an Irish professional golfer.Smyth was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He turned professional in 1974 and was a member of the European Tour for over a quarter of a century. His best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was seventh in 1988...	1953–		8	0	1979–2001

Detailed criteria

Only European Tour sanctioned events are counted. As all elite golfers enter the four major championships
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...

and the four (three before 2009) individual World Golf Championships
World Golf Championships
The World Golf Championships are a group of four annual events for male professional golfers created by the International Federation of PGA Tours, with a fifth to be added in 2012...

each season it is possible for a player to accumulate eight wins in European Tour sanctioned events without ever joining the European Tour, and Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...

(who has never joined the European Tour) reached that mark in the 2000 Open Championship.
The three U.S. based majors were not designated as European Tour events until 1997, so victories in them before that date were initially excluded. This is in contrast to the list of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, which includes Open Championship wins before that tournament became an official money event in 1995, because they were retrospectively designated as PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

wins in 2002. Sometime prior to 2009, the European Tour made such a retrospective designation with respect to the three U.S. majors, as reflected in their 2009 media guide.
Wins in the Wentworth World Match Play Championship
HSBC World Match Play Championship
The Volvo World Match Play Championship is the current name of an annual match play men's professional golf tournament. From 2009 the event has been played at the Finca Cortesín Golf Club in Casares near Málaga, Spain, having previously been played at Wentworth Club near London...

before 2003 are not included.
The win lists in the player profiles on the European Tour's official site include some miscellaneous items which are not regular individual tour wins and are therefore excluded: wins in 18 hole pro-ams associated with European Tour events; wins in the Volvo Bonus Pool; team wins in the Seve Trophy
Seve Trophy
The Seve Trophy is a biennial golf tournament between teams of professional male golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and Continental Europe. It is named after five times major winner Seve Ballesteros, the most successful golfer ever from Continental Europe who was one of the key...

; wins on the Challenge Tour
Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and as with on the main European Tour and the European Seniors Tour, some of the events are played outside of Europe...

and the European Seniors Tour
European Seniors Tour
The European Seniors Tour is a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over run by the PGA European Tour.The Tour was founded in 1992. In 2008 it had a total prize fund of €7,729,284, so it is much further behind the U.S.-based Champions Tour in relative prize money than the main European...

.

There are additional players who won eight or more tournaments on the pre-tour European circuit and the European Tour in the period straddling 1972 who are not included on the list.

Detailed criteria

See also