The 2012 European Tour was the fourth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 41st season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.
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Schedule
The table below shows the 2012 European Tour schedule. This table comprises 45 individual tournaments and one team competition, not counting three canceled tournaments. The 2011 European Tour schedule had contained 50 different individual tournaments (two of which were played twice, because of the long season) and two team events. There were two new tournaments in 2012: the Perth International and the BMW Masters. Seven of the 2011 tournaments left the schedule: the Iberdrola Open, the Czech Open, the Madrid Masters, the Castelló Masters, the Andalucía Masters, the Iskandar Johor Open, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship. The last named event was in fact played in December 2012 as usual, but counted as part of the 2013 season.
The season began in January with the Africa Open in South Africa, and culminated with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in November. The 2012 season therefore lasted only 11 months: this meant that the 2013 season could revert to the December-November format that had been last used for the 2010 season. The full schedule included the four major championships and four World Golf Championships.
Race to Dubai
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai". It is based on money earned during the season and is calculated in euro, with earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies being converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event. The following table shows the final top-10 in the 2012 standings and includes the bonus pool.
Ernie Els would have qualified for the DP World Tour Championship in 7th place but failed to meet the minimum required starts of 12.
Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award: