Sergio Garcia has become
the youngest winner of the Golf Writers' Trophy since 1956.
The Spaniard, 20 next Sunday,
takes the award after a great first season as a professional.
Garcia finished second to
world number one Tiger Woods at the United States PGA championship, became the
first teenager to play in the Ryder Cup, won the Irish Open and German Masters
and partnered Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez to success in the
Alfred Dunhill Cup.
The trophy is given to the
person or persons born or resident in Europe who in the preceding 12 months have
made the most outstanding contribution to golf.
Garcia won by just a single
vote from both Colin Montgomerie, winner of the European Order of Merit for a
seventh successive year, and the Britain and Ireland men's amateur team.
"I'm very proud to
have won this trophy after everything achieved by European golfers last year,"
he said.
"It was a fantastic
season for me and now I'm looking forward to trying to make this one even better."
