Nick Dougherty has been named the 38th recipient of the prestigious Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award. Dougherty, aged 20, was selected by a joint panel comprising The European Tour, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the Association of Golf Writers.
Dougherty, who follows in the footsteps of English compatriots Ian Poulter (2000) and Paul Casey (2001), enjoyed a superb first season on The European Tour International Schedule and finished 36th in the 2002 Volvo Order of Merit with 562,508 euro (£358,662).
The other contenders included Northern Ireland’’s Graeme McDowell, who finished 56th (412,203 euro; £262,926) in the Volvo Order of Merit following his win in the Volvo Scandinavian Masters, and England’’s Richard Bland, who finished 73rd (318,773 euro; £203,254) in the Volvo Order of Merit.
The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the European golfer judged by the panel to have produced the most outstanding performance in his first year as a Member of The European Tour.
Tony Jacklin (1963), Nick Faldo (1977), Sandy Lyle (1978) and José Maria Olazábal (1986) are past winners of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award who have gone on to capture Major Championships while Colin Montgomerie, the 1988 winner, went on to set a unique record of seven successive Volvo Order of Merit victories.
Dougherty, from Chorley in Lancashire, played in Great Britain and Ireland’’s Walker Cup victory over the United States in 2001 before turning professional and securing the third card in The European Tour Qualifying Schools Finals.
He finished tied eighth in the Johnnie Walker Classic on his third start of 2002 and secured his card less than two months later, finishing joint runner-up behind Adam Scott in the Qatar Masters. By finishing tied third in the Linde German Masters, Dougherty secured his place in the season-ending Volvo Masters Andalucia.
Dougherty said: "I am delighted to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award. It is probably the one trophy I will only ever get one chance to try to win. You are only a rookie once and I talked to my dad at the start of the year and we agreed it would be a wonderful thing to win.
“My first objective at the start of the year was to retain my card and I was fortunate enough to achieve that by March. When I finished top of the Qualifying School re-rank in May I felt that the Rookie of the Year was a realistic goal. I am good friends with Ian Poulter and I know how much it meant to him to win the award.
“I guessed that Richard Bland and Graeme McDowell were also in the running, especially after Graeme won in Sweden, but I felt after finishing third in the Linde German Masters that I had a good chance. It’’s been a decent first year on Tour but I would have liked a little more consistency.
“This is a fantastic way to finish the year, especially when I look at the calibre of people who have won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in the past. It’’s an honour for me to join that list.”
