The Open de France, which enjoys the venerable status as the oldest of all the continental Opens, marks the start of a four week spell on The European Tour International Schedule, culminating in the 133rd Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon, in which more than €15,000,000 (£10,000,000) will be on offer.
First played in 1906, the 2004 renewal of the Open de France at Le Golf National near Paris offers a record €3,000,000 prize fund, with €500,000 available for the player who succeeds England’’s Philip Golding as champion.
The following week, the Smurfit European Open at The K Club at Straffan, County Kildare, takes centre stage with a prize fund of £2,200,000 - a figure matched the following week at The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond Golf Club near Glasgow - before the eyes of the golfing world focus on the 133rd Open Golf Championship in Ayrshire with its record prize fund of £4,000,000.
All of which will, of course, have a major impact in shaping both the Volvo Order of Merit and the composition of The European Ryder Cup Team, with many players eager to force their way into the reckoning and others looking to cement their places in the Team to defend The Ryder Cup against the United States at Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, from September 17-19.
The steady growth of the Open de France has placed this magnificent Championship among the premier events on The European Tour International Schedule. The €3,000,000 prize fund for 2004 represents a 20 per cent increase on the 2003 figure of €2,500,000 and a 150 per cent increase from 2000 when the figure stood at €1,200,000. Indeed, over the past five years from 1999, prize money for the Open de France has grown by 250 per cent from €850,000.
Record prize money of £2,200,000 for the tenth edition of the Smurfit European Open at The K Club, from July 1-4, 2004, represents an increase of £200,000 on 2003 and maintains the progressive growth of the Smurfit European Open in the decade since the inaugural event in 1995. In that year, the total prize fund was £650,000 and the first prize collected by Bernhard Langer of Germany was £108,330.
The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond from July 8-11, will carry an identical prize fund with the winner taking home £366,660 from the prize fund of £2,200,000. The development of this series of elite tournaments has been an important milestone in the growth of The European Tour.
All of which leads to the Open Championship, where total prize money will be £4,000,000, an increase of £100,000 on the 2003 figure. The 2004 Champion will receive a cheque for £720,000, an increase of £20,000 from last year. In the seven years since Justin Leonard won at Royal Troon, the first prize has increased almost three-fold, from £250,000 to £720,000, and the total prize fund from £1,600,000 to £4,000,000.
