Japanese golfer Ryo Hisatsune becomes the first rookie to claim European Tour's Sir Henry Cotton Honors Award

Modified Nov 28, 2023 15:14 GMT

Nedbank Golf Challenge - Day Four — Ryo Hisatsune won Rookie of the Year

Ryo Hisatsune was recently voted as the European tour's top rookie. This award comes after an absolutely stellar season in which he won the French Open and earned dual membership with the PGA Tour.

In doing so, the rookie became the first Japanese golfer to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. Not only that, he earned it over some impressive contenders, including PGA Tour member and Ryder Cup player Ludvig Aberg.

Shockingly, the golfer was outside the world's top 200 rankings at the start of the 2023 season. Furthermore, he lost his card on Japan's leading tour three years ago, so it has been a surprising return to prominence for Hisatsune.

Now, he's an award-winner and is ready to play against the world's best golfers after finishing among the top 10 players on the European tour's season-ending Race to Dubai rankings. In his sterling rookie season, Hisatsune recorded eight top-10 finishes, including the win in France and has climbed all the way up to world number 81.

Via ESPN, he said:

"I'm so happy, it's such a surprise."

Several top golfers such as Jon Rahm and Ian Poulter have won this award in the past, so it could be a sign of things to come:

2022 — Thriston Lawrence
2021 — Matti Schmid
2020 — Sami Valimaki
2019 — Robert MacIntyre
2018 — Shubhankar Sharma
2017 — Jon Rahm
2016 — Wang Jeung-hun
2015 — Byeong Hun An
2014 — Brooks Koepka
2013 — Peter Uihlein
2012 — Ricardo Santos
2011 — Tom Lewis
2010 — Matteo Manassero
2009 — Chris Wood
2008 — Pablo Larrazabal
2007 — Martin Kaymer
2006 — Marc Warren
2005 — Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
2004 — Scott Drummond
2003 — Peter Lawrie
2002 — Nick Dougherty
2001 — Paul Casey
2000 — Ian Poulter

Ryo Hisatsune thrilled by new award

It was an incredible and rather unexpected season for Ryo Hisatsune. The Japanese golfer exploded onto the scene on the DP World Tour and became a bit of a household name.

He said via Planet Sport:

"Winning the Open de France was amazing for me. I've been working so hard and it was such a good result. I was so happy and very honoured to become a Japanese winner on the DP World Tour. Three years ago, I missed my card at Q School in Japan, so I went on Japan's second tier, won three times and got a Japan Tour Card. Finally I got a DP World Tour card last year and now I've also got a PGA TOUR card. I'm excited and I’m so happy."

As he mentioned, he had a DP World Tour card come to him recently, and now he's got the same for the PGA Tour. Hisatsune's remarkable ascent continues and it will be interesting to watch his career as he continues to grow, especially since he's just 21 years old.

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