Every LET Order Of Merit Winner Since 1979
The LET Order of Merit has been awarded to the top player on the circuit since 1979 - here is who has won it over the years
The LET has had an Order of Merit in place since its first season in 1979, and over the years, the award has employed different systems to determine the winner.
For the first 20 years, the player who earned the most money over the season took the honor, but that changed in 2000 with the introduction of a points system.
It proved relatively short-lived, with the money list once again being used between 2005 and 2017 before a points system was reintroduced in 2018, and which is still used today.
The first LET Order of Merit winner was Scot Catherine Panton, who claimed the honor thanks to earning £4,965 from the circuit's 18 events in 1979.
By the final year of the Order of Merit's first spell where money earned was the crucial metric, Laura Davies claimed the prize thanks to having earned £204,522 in the 1999 season - one of a record six Order of Merit wins for the English player.
The first year with the points system, which came in 2000, saw Swede Sophie Gustafson take the honor, the first of four times in nine years she was named Order of Merit winner.
Dane Iben Tinning then won €204,672 in 2005 to win in the Order of Merit's first year back using the money list, before Georgia Hall won €368,935 12 years later in the final year before it reverted back to a points system. For the record, Hall then won it again in the first year the points system came back.
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Nowadays, points earned on the LET count towards the season-long Race to Costa Del Sol rankings, culminating in the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana, which offers the final chance to earn points before the winner is crowned.
Below is the list of every LET Order of Merit winner since 1979.
Every LET Order Of Merit Winner Since 1979
Year | Winner | Points/Prize Money |
---|---|---|
1979 | Catherine Panton | £4,965 |
1980 | Muriel Thomson | £8,008 |
1981 | Jenny Lee Smith | £13,518 |
1982 | Jenny Lee Smith | £12,551 |
1983 | Muriel Thomson | £9,225 |
1984 | Dale Reid | £28,239 |
1985 | Muriel Thomson | £21,735 |
1986 | Laura Davies | £37,500 |
1987 | Dale Reid | £53,815 |
1988 | Marie-Laure de Lorenzi | £109,360 |
1989 | Marie-Laure de Lorenzi | £77,534 |
1990 | Trish Johnson | £83,043 |
1991 | Corinne Dibnah | £89,058 |
1992 | Laura Davies | £66,333 |
1993 | Karen Lunn | £81,266 |
1994 | Liselotte Neumann | £102,750 |
1995 | Annika Sorenstam | £130,324 |
1996 | Laura Davies | £110,880 |
1997 | Alison Nicholas | £94,590 |
1998 | Helen Alfredsson | £125,975 |
1999 | Laura Davies | £204,522 |
2000 | Sophie Gustafson | 8,777 points |
2001 | Raquel Carriedo | 10,661 points |
2002 | Paula Marti | 6,589 points |
2003 | Sophie Gustafson | 917.95 points |
2004 | Laura Davies | 777.26 points |
2005 | Iben Tinning | €204,672 |
2006 | Laura Davies | €471,727 |
2007 | Sophie Gustafson | €222,081 |
2008 | Gwladys Nocera | €391,840 |
2009 | Sophie Gustafson | €281,315 |
2010 | Lee-Anne Pace | €339,518 |
2011 | Ai Miyazato | €363,080 |
2012 | Carlota Ciganda | €251,290 |
2013 | Suzann Pettersen | €518,448 |
2014 | Charley Hull | €263,097 |
2015 | Shanshan Feng | €399,213 |
2016 | Beth Allen | €313,079 |
2017 | Georgia Hall | €368,935 |
2018 | Georgia Hall | 667.73 points |
2019 | Esther Henseleit | 743.06 points |
2020 | Emily Kristine Pedersen | 1249.35 points |
2021 | Atthaya Thitikul | 3591.96 points |
2022 | Linn Grant | 3624.91 points |
2023 | Trichat Cheenglab | 1966.52 points |
Most LET Order Of Merit Wins
Wins | Player |
---|---|
6 | Laura Davies |
4 | Sophie Gustafson |
3 | Muriel Thomson |
2 | Jenny Lee Smith, Dale Reid, Marie-Laure de Lorenzi, |
Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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