Ranking of victories in the European Tour

Let’s look at the players with the most victories in the history of the European Tour. Only five players in history have achieved more than 30 victories on the European Tour.

Severiano Ballesteros Sota (Cantabria, Spain)

The great Severiano Ballesteros remains the most decorated European Tour player in history with an unsurpassed record. In less than 20 years, the five-time champion has won 50 titles, beginning with his first victory at age 19 at the Dutch Open in 1976, defeating Howard Clark by eight strokes. That was followed by 17 straight years, between 1976 and 1992, when he won once, for a total of 47 victories, including three Open Championships (1979, 1984, 1988) and two master’s titles (1980, 1983). The highlight of those years on the European circuit was undoubtedly the 1986 season when he won six times and remains the only player to win six in a season.

He won twice in 1994, defeating Nick Faldo by three strokes to win the Benson & Hedges International Open before defeating Jose Maria Olazabal and Ernie Els to win the Mercedes German Masters. His final 50th victory came the following year at the 1995 Peugeot Open España, where he won the Open Nacional for the third time by defeating Spaniards Ignacio Garrido and Pepin Rivero.

Bernhard Langer (Anhausen, Germany) 

Has 116 professional titles to his name, 42 of which he won on the European Tour between 1980 and 2002. like Ballesteros, Langer won his first European Tour title by a considerable margin, winning the 1980 Dunlop Masters by five strokes over Brian Barnes at the age of 23. 116 professional titles to his name, 42 of which he won on the European Tour between 1980 and 2002. He then enjoyed a 16-year consecutive winning streak, a span that included two master’s victories (1985, 1993) making him the first player to be world number one when the rankings began in 1986.

His last European Tour title came after a thrilling season finale at the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucia, where the playoff with Colin Montgomerie was suspended due to darkness after two holes. They decided to share the spoils, which marked the second time Langer had opted to share a trophy; the other was the 1986 Lancome Trophy he shared with Seve Ballesteros for the same reason. Langer then carried his winning streak into the majors, where he won 11 major championships.

Eldrick Tont Woods (California, USA)

His 1997 Masters victory is considered the first of 41 victories, including eight other European Tour titles between 1998 and 2009. A year later, he defeated Ernie Els in a match to win his first European Tour title at the Johnnie Walker Classic, a title he won again in November 2000. He also won the Deutsche Bank – SAP Open TPC of Europe three times (1999, 2001, 2002) and the Dubai Desert Classic in 2006 and 2008. While active, Woods earned his last European Tour victory in his famous win at Augusta National in 2019.

Colin Stuart Montgomerie (Glasgow, UK)

After being named Rookie of the Year in 1988, he has played in 626 European Tour tournaments during his career and has the fourth-highest number of victories with 31. Monty captured his first European Tour title at the 1989 Portugal Open. He won by a substantial margin of 11 strokes which equaled the record at the time (later set by Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open). After 50, Montgomery joined the Senior Tour and has since won three Majors and six Staysure Tour titles.

Nicholas Alexander Faldo (Welwyn Garden City, England)

His victory at Augusta National in 1996 marked his sixth Major title and final victory on the European Tour. A Masters remembered for that final round where he started six strokes behind Greg Norman and went on to win by five as the Australian suffered his biggest setback on the Georgia course. 

Faldo won two more titles after that: the 1997 Nissan Open on the PGA Tour and the 1998 World Cup of Golf with David Carter. He retired from professional golf at the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrew’s and now enjoys a successful career as an analyst on American television. With six Majors under his belt and 24 more victories on the European Tour, Faldo remains one of the most decorated players in the history of the European Tour.