By the end of the 1940s prize money for the European tour was becoming much more significant, meaning that a golfer could effectively earn a living by competing in a series of contests around Europe throughout the year. However, each event was still organised separately by a golf club or association, or a commercial promoter.

In the US a formal Tour had existed since the 1930s and in 1972 the Professional Golfers Association introduced the PGA European Tour.

The first season consisted of 20 tournaments, of which 12 were in the United Kingdom and one was in Ireland. Of the seven events in Continental Europe, six were national opens, namely the Dutch, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Swiss Opens, with the seventh being the Madrid Open.

Over the next three decades the European Tour gradually lengthened and globalised, and with the Tour becoming ever-larger and attracting more players from different countries, in 1984 it left the control of the PGA to become self-governing.

By 1990 there were 38 events on the schedule, including 37 in Europe, and the start of the season had moved up to February.

In 1995 the European Tour began a policy of co-sanctioning tournaments with other PGA Tours by endorsing the South African PGA Championship on the Southern African Tour (now the Sunshine Tour). This policy was extended to the PGA Tour of Australasia in 1996 and most extensively to the Asian Tour.

The European Tour continues to grow in size each year and at the start of 2009 seven of the world's top 10 players were full members.

Spaniard Seve Ballesteros has won more European Tour events than any other player, totalling 50 victories between 1976 and 1995.