SIR HENRY COTTON ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD

MARC WARREN SECOND SCOT
IN THREE YEARS TO
WIN EURO TOUR HONOUR

Marc Warren has been named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2005 after a superb debut season on The European Tour International Schedule which saw the 25-year-old Scot capture the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters and record three other top ten finishes on his way to qualifying for this week’s Volvo Masters.

Warren becomes the 11th Scottish golfer to receive the accolade and the second in three years following Scott Drummond in 2004. He succeeds Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño as the winner of the award which is presented to the European golfer judged to have produced the most outstanding first year as a Member of The European Tour.

The Glaswegian was the unanimous choice of the selection panel comprising The European Tour, The R&A and the Association of Golf Writers.

Warren graduated to The European Tour as winner of the 2005 Challenge Tour Rankings and won his maiden title in Sweden on his 23rd start, beating local favourite Robert Karlsson, one of Europe’s Ryder Cup heroes at The K Club, in a play-off. Going into this week’s Volvo Masters, he was 40th on the Order of Merit with earnings of €584,035 (£393,597).

Warren’s main rivals for the Award were England’s Ross Fisher, who enjoyed four top ten finishes in his first eight starts on Tour, but missed out on a place in the Volvo Masters in 66th place on the Order of Merit, and Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares, who won The Imperial Collection Russian Open on only his fourth European Tour start in August.

Other Scots to have won the prestigious Award are: Robin Liddle (1966), Bernard Gallacher (1968), Sam Torrance (1972), Sandy Lyle (1978), Mike Miller (1979), Gordon Brand Jnr (1982), Colin Montgomerie (1988), Gary Orr (1993), Scott Henderson (1997) and Drummond (2004).

Warren said: “Just looking at some of the names on the list – Major Champions like Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and José Maria Olazábal – makes me realise that I am in illustrious company. Most of the past winners have won loads of tournaments and played in Ryder Cups. That is what I want to achieve in the future.

“You can only win this Award once and I am delighted to have achieved it. It was definitely a massive goal for me at the start of the year. A number of great players have not managed to win it and I feel this is a great honour. I would have been kicking myself if I hadn’t given myself a proper shot at winning this Award and I feel relieved to get the nod because it goes to a vote and anything can happen.

“I have had a win and two top fours to get to the Volvo Masters. I felt I was in the running after I won in Sweden and got ahead of Ross Fisher on the money list. I knew I was in the running and wanted a strong finish and I’ve done that with some decent performances recently.”