As the 2024 season came to an end the EuroDov Tour announced the introduction of the Player of the Year award.

The award featured four shortlisted players, David McColgan, Paul Gowens, Scott Gowens and Stuart Sutherland, a run down of their nominations are below.

David McColgan won six trophies in 2024, but his nomination was namely for the three Majors he won back-to-back-to-back. As he entered the fourth and final Major of the year McColgan stood on the precipice of history to be the first time ever to hold all 4 Majors at once, it wasn’t to be, but McColgan’s triple Major season saw him become the first player to win all four majors on Tour.

Paul Gowens returned from a year on medical exemption and his season exploded in the second half of the year as he lifted the Anstruther Plate – for the second time – the Matchplay and the Forrester-Lochgelly Open, to mark his return to competitive golf with a 3-win season.

Scott Gowens marked his first full year on the EuroDov Tour with a double win. He won out in Q-School to not only get his name on the trophy for the first time ever, but to also win promotion to the Order of Merit and he also lifted the Bruce Cup in what was an intensely fought tournament from start to finish.

Stuart Sutherland’s 2024 was a long time coming for many, he won the opening two events of the 2024 Order of Merit – the St Andrews Open and the Kinghorn Classic – and went on to record his best finish in the Order of Merit ever with a fourth-place finish. His season wasn’t over, just like he opened it with a bang, he closed it with an explosion, blowing the entire field out of the way as he lifted his first Major, the Montgomery Cup.

Voting for the Player of the Year was open to all members of the Tour, and they were asked to rank the players 1 through 4, with the first vote being worth 4 points, 2nd vote worth 3 and so on until the 4th vote is worth 1.

In the end it was a relatively tight vote, but running away with 12 first preference votes (the only player to have double digit first preference votes) was Stuart Sutherland’s break out year.

As the media gathered at EuroDov Tour HQ for the announcement there were lots of guesses on what way the vote would go with the media benches engaged in furious argument, advocating for their favoured nominee.

McColgan’s year was one for the ages, how could he not win it; Gowens Snr’s return from medical exemption to win three times is something from Greek mythology; Gowens Jnr’s story was like Rocky, the underdog who never quit; but in the end it is hard to say the players of the EuroDov Tour are wrong, after all these guys know how hard it is to win on Tour, never mind win back-to-back on the Order of Merit or win a Major.

Looking at Sutherland’s Order of Merit wins only one player has ever won two tournaments back-to-back in a season (McColgan in 2021, 2022, 2022), that’s in 20 opportunities to do so, only one player has managed it, to add your name to that list is incredible, to do it straight after winning your first ever event is remarkable.

Fast forward to the end of the season, the Montgomery Cup is undoubtedly the hardest of all the Majors to win. There have been 7 different winners in 10 events, and as the Major with the largest field it is wildly unpredictable.

Sutherland’s win is also all the more remarkable on 2 accounts, firstly, he did so under the intense spotlight of McColgan’s potential history defining grand slam win and secondly, he not only won it, but obliterated the tournament record by 5 strokes.

Sutherland also becomes the newest member of the Major winning club, with only 9 players having won one on the EuroDov Tour. That’s only 19% of players who have competed in a Major and just 24% of the current membership.

Sutherland’s break out year has been a long time coming, and many commentators are now asking what the player can do in 2025 off the back of such a confidence boosting season.

We managed to catch-up with Sutherland in his off-season to get his reaction to winning. He said, “Wow, what a surprise! It’s been my best season since the Tour began by a country mile. There are some really good players on Tour, who consistently perform at a high standard, so to get this recognition means a lot.”

Speaking about the award being voted on by his peers Sutherland said, “the Tour is made by the players and we’re really fortunate to have a great group of lads who make each time we play a great laugh. To be recognized by them with this award is up there with the tournament wins, for sure.”

The full results of the voting were Stuart Sutherland – 62 points; David McColgan – 55 points; Paul Gowens – 41 points; and Scott Gowens – 32 points.

Congratulations to Stuart Sutherland who today was announced as the EuroDov Tour 2024 Player of the Year.