The European Tour, now the DP World Tour, was founded in 1972 and has since awarded the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award to the most outstanding newcomer of the season.
But the award actually predates the tour, with three-time British Open champion Sir Henry Cotton giving the prize to the best rookie on the PGA Tour before the tour became the European Tour.
The first champion was Tommy Goodwin in 1960, who averaged 73 in 10 tournaments that season while reaching the quarterfinals of the PGA Match Play at Turnberry.
Goodwin received £100 from Cotton, who said to Goodwin: “I hope this cheque will be of some use to you.”
Ultimately, the champion is chosen by a judging panel made up of representatives from the European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the Golf Writers Association. Today, the award is given to the highest-ranked rookie in the Race to Dubai at the end of the season.
There have been many notable winners of the award over the years, including Tony Jacklin in 1963, seven years before his first major championship at the U.S. Open.
Then Nick Faldo won the award in 1977, and he went on to win six majors, while other winners of the award went on to become household names, including Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie.
Brooks Koepka is the 2014 Rookie of the Year
(Image source: Getty Images)
In recent years, winners who have gone on to great careers include Brooks Koepka in 2014, Jon Rahm three years later and Robert MacIntyre in 2019.
Here are every winner of the Sir Henry Cotton Newcomer of the Year Award.
Sir Henry Cotton Newcomer of the Year Award Winner
| Year | winner |
|---|---|
| 1960 | Tommy Goodwin |
| 1961 | Alex Caygill |
| 1962 | not applicable |
| 1963 | Tony Jacklin |
| 1964 | not applicable |
| 1965 | not applicable |
| 1966 | Robin Liddell |
| 1967 | not applicable |
| 1968 | Bernard Gallagher |
| 1969 | Peter Osterhuis |
| 1970 | Stuart Brown |
| 1971 | David Llewellyn |
| 1972 | Sam Torrence |
| 1973 | Philip Elson |
| 1974 | Carl Mason |
| 1975 | not applicable |
| 1976 | Mark James |
| 1977 | Nick Faldo |
| 1978 | Sandy Lyle |
| 1979 | Mike Miller |
| 1980 | Paul Hodder |
| 1981 | Jeremy Bennett |
| 1982 | Gordon Brand Jr. |
| 1983 | Grant Turner |
| 1984 | Philip Parkin |
| 1985 | Paul Thomas |
| 1986 | Jose Maria Olazabal |
| 1987 | Peter Baker |
| 1988 | Colin Montgomery |
| 1989 | Paul Broadhurst |
| 1990 | Russell Claydon |
| 1991 | Per Ulrich Johnson |
| 1992 | Jim Payne |
| 1993 | Gary Orr |
| 1994 | Jonathan Lomas |
| 1995 | Jamo Sanderling |
| 1996 | Thomas Bjorn |
| 1997 | Scott Henderson |
| 1998 | Olivier Edmond |
| 1999 | Sergio Garcia |
| 2000 | Ian Poulter |
| 2001 | Paul Casey |
| 2002 | Nick Doherty |
| 2003 | Peter Lowry |
| 2004 | Scott Drummond |
| 2005 | Gonzalo Fernandez Castano |
| 2006 | Marc Warren |
| 2007 | Martin Kaymer |
| 2008 | Pablo Larrazabal |
| 2009 | Chris Wood |
| 2010 | Matteo Manassero |
| 2011 | Tom Lewis |
| 2012 | Ricardo Santos |
| 2013 | Peter Uihlein |
| 2014 | Brooks Koepka |
| 2015 | Ahn Byung-hun |
| 2016 | Wang Zhengxun |
| 2017 | Jon Rahm |
| 2018 | Shubankar Sharma |
| 2019 | Robert McIntyre |
| 2020 | Sami Valimaki |
| 2021 | Marty Schmid |
| 2022 | Sriston Lawrence |
| 2023 | Jiu Changliang |
