Dougherty is best rookie

Nick Dougherty has been named the 38th recipient of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award on the European Tour. The 20-year-old follows in the footsteps of the likes of Tony Jacklin, Sam Torrance, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia. He is the third successive English winner after Paul Casey last season and Ian Poulter in 2000.

Dougherty finished 36th on the Order of Merit with £358,662 after taking third place at last year's qualifying school. He was joint eighth in the Johnnie Walker Classic on his third start of 2002, was runner-up to Adam Scott in the Qatar Masters and third in the German Masters.

The other leading contenders were Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who, after being a team-mate of Dougherty in last year's Walker Cup win, captured the Volvo Scandinavian Masters on his fourth professional start in August, and Southampton's Richard Bland, who lost a play-off in the Irish Open. "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," Dougherty said.

"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.

Dougherty was selected by a panel comprising the European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Club and the Association of Golf Writers.