Ireland's Graeme McDowell has missed out on the prestigious Rookie of the Year award, despite winning in only his fourth event on the European Tour.
The award went to McDowell's teammate in last year's Walker Cup, Liverpool's Nick Dougherty.
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.
Dougherty finished 36th on the Order of Merit after coming joint eighth in the Johnnie Walker Classic on his third start of 2002, runner-up to Adam Scott in the Qatar Masters and third in the Linde German Masters.
Dougherty said: "I am delighted to win the 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."
"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. Its been a decent first year on tour, but I would have liked a little more consistency."
He was selected by a joint panel comprising the European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Club and the Association of Golf Writers.