Sam Torrance awarded Honorary Life   Membership of the European Tour

NEWS RELEASE  Sam Torrance has been recognised for his record-   breaking European Tour career and Ryder Cup heroics   by becoming the latest addition to the exclusive group of   Honorary Life Members of the European Tour.   As the European Tour enters a new era at this week’s   BMW PGA Championship, the first event of the new   Rolex Series, Torrance’s significant contribution to all   aspects of the Tour and Ryder Cup was recognised at   Tuesday night’s Championship Reception when he was   presented with the accolade by European Tour Chairman   David Williams.   Torrance said: “It’s fantastic. It’s been my whole life. I   should really be honouring the European Tour for giving   me such an arena to play golf. What a life. It has been so   rewarding – the people I’ve met, the places, I’ve been.   What a journey.   “It’s very special to receive this honour. The European   Tour has always made me feel very special though.   “The Ryder Cup captaincy was definitely the highlight of   my career but I’ve many memories. I won the Australian   PGA in 1980, which to this day is still my biggest win. I   played with Seve the last two rounds. Seve finished   second, Greg Norman finished third. I beat the pair of   them and when I came off the last green, Seve said, “Hey   Sam, you’re very tough to beat”. For someone as   legendary as that to say that to me, it gave me so much   confidence.   "Up to that point I’d only won twice and hadn’t   played in The Ryder Cup yet. I went on to win a few and   play in a few Ryder Cups and a lot was down to that great   man.”   In total the 63 year old Scot went on to play 706 events   which, to this day, remains a European Tour record. It   total he won 21 times on Tour between 1976 and 1998.   Torrance carried that success into the European Senior   Tour, winning the John Jacobs Trophy by topping the Order of Merit on three separate occasions – in 2005,   2006 and 2009 – and winning a total of 11 titles on the   over 50s Tour. EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS