Wednesday 25 November 2015 10:19, UK
Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray looks back on an enthralling season for the European Tour, with Rory McIlroy again claiming the Race to Dubai title while a number of young talents burst onto the scene.
Another season finishes and and a new one begins, but before that a brief look back on what has been a superb year of European and PGA Tour golf.
There have been so many highlights, it's impossible to recall them all, so this week, let's reflect on our home Tour in a year that saw so many changes as well as the emergence of brilliant young talent.
After a successful tenure at the helm of the Tour, George O'Grady passed the baton to Canadian, Keith Pelley, and for the new chief executive, it's been a whirlwind few months. It promises to be even busier in the years ahead, but already there have been significant changes as the European Tour continues to spread its wings.
Its bond with Asia was strengthened and the same I suspect will happen with Australia. It's alliance with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa has continued to grow and I'm thrilled we are to welcome the Nedbank Challenge into the Final Series portfolio next November.
The Nedbank is one of the most recognised events in the game having blossomed over the past thirty five years. The secret to its enormous success is that it learned to walk before it could run. It started with a small field in 1980 then extended that bit by bit.
This year, 30 players will compete at the famed Gary Player Country Club in the republic's North Western Province. In 12 months time, just over 70 will play the penultimate event on the 2016 calendar. It's a prime slot earned by excellence, superb sponsorship and organisation and it will have a huge influence on how the Race to Dubai ends.
Mr Pelley is keen to tackle slow play and I hear you all say, not before time. He has outlined his vision for the future where we may well see increased purses. He has strengthened his relationships with platinum sponsors and he has made it as simple as possible for our top stars to play two tours.
All of this in just a few months. Should it all come to fruition, and there is no reason why not, the European Tour will continue to be a wonderful place for a professional golfer to ply his trade. As a founder member of the Tour, I wish him well.
At the start of the year in South Africa, a young man from Nuneaton in Warwickshire burst onto the scene winning the South African Open, then adding the Joburg Open. Andy Sullivan was stacking shelves in supermarkets to supplement his income not long ago yet this year he has been a revelation. He would add the Portuguese Masters before stretching Rory McIlroy to the limit in what was a pulsating final 18 holes of the season in Dubai.
For aspiring youngsters who dream of making it onto the Tour, watching Andy can help them in so many ways. He plays without delay, a smile is never far from his face and with each step he takes on the world's fairways, it's plain to see he is living the dream. If ever there was a first class role model for the next generation, Andy Sullivan is it.
When the Tour returned to England another precocious talent shone brightly. Ben An's win at Wentworth was heartwarming. Having finished third on the Challenge Tour last year, Ben came of age in the BMW PGA Championship. On the home stretch of the West Course, he showed a maturity beyond his tender years.
An would finish seventh in the Race to Dubai in his rookie season. By the time the Korean had secured his maiden victory, Indian, Anirban Lahiri had won twice in Malaysia and his homeland. His wins took him into the world's top 50 and he became only the second Indian player to play in the season ending DP World Tour Championship.
At last year's qualifying school, Matthew Fitzpatrick rallied to get his Tour card. Had he failed, a year on the Challenge Tour was his future. In his first seven events in 2015, he would miss six cuts as he struggled to adapt to life in the big league. His response to that start was magnificent.
His maiden victory came in one of the events of the season. The British Masters supported by Sky Sports took televised golf to a level never seen before and Matt's golf over four glorious autumnal days was sublime.
His finish in Dubai was the 10th time he'd recorded a top 8 finish, more than any other player and his final Race to Dubai position was an impressive 12th. The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award awaits, although it is a tough choice between Ben and Matthew.
There were many other outstanding performers. Danny Willett was never out of the top two in 50 weeks and only an amazing performance in the desert from Rory McIlroy denied the Sheffield star taking the tape. Victor Dubuisson, the most likeable Frenchman, returned to winning ways in Turkey, as did Soren Kjeldsen in Ireland. From outside the top 300, the Dane made his way back into the top 50.
Lee Slattery secured his second title, several years after his first, and the hardest working player on tour, Kristoffer Broberg, sprang a surprise in Shanghai by defeating American Patrick Reed in the BMW Masters. Young Belgian Thomas Pieters won twice with victories in the Czech Republic and Holland.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat did the same in China and Scotland and Brandon Grace did the double in Mpumalanga and Qatar. Thorbjorn Olesen, James Morrison, Chis Wood, Alex Noren, Pablo Larrazabal, Bernd Wiesberger and David Horsey all returned to the winners circle while Gary Stal got 2015 off to fine start with his first win in Abu Dhabi.
And, of course, there was so much more including a first World Golf Championship for Ireland's impressive Shane Lowry.
Yes, it was a year of comebacks and first time winners. It was also a year in which we said goodbye to the European Tour's official starter, the eloquent Ivor Robson. His first event was the Open of 1975 at Carnoustie, scene of the first major win of Tom Watson. A former pro golfer, Ivor used to sell shafts on the ranges in the days before equipment trucks.
After 41 years, He will retire home to Moffat in the Scottish Borders. He will have much to tell his golfing friends during a round both on the course and at the bar. Everybody will miss him and everyone will wish him a long and happy retirement.
The new season is upon us and it gets underway at the delightful and enchanting Leopard Creek this week. My congratulations to all of the players who secured their cards through the Challenge Tour and the qualifying school. Many of this year's headline makers will be a great inspiration to them.
One player in particular I shall follow this season is England's Matthew Southgate. Having returned home from a Challenge Tour event in July, Matthew was diagnosed with cancer. After a successful operation, he was well enough to go to the PGA course at Catalunya where he earned his card.
I don't know Matthew, but I won't be alone in wishing him all the luck in the world and I look forward to him taking his place in many events throughout the year. He is already a winner.
