Super-talented French golfer Martin Couvra has been named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2025, becoming the second French player to win the DP World Tour’s prestigious award.
Couvra won the Turkish Airlines Open in May and registered six other top ten finishes to end the 2025 season in 19th position on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World.
The 22 year old is the first French golfer since Olivier Edmond in 1998 to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
MAGNIFIQUE MARTIN …
French golf @ffgolf celebrating news Martin Couvra has been awarded the prestigious Sir Henry Cotton @DPWorldTour ‘Rookie of the Year’
First winner since Olivier Edmond in 1998
Read: https://t.co/weAlAJtwD4
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✅ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/61aPDCXmq2
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) December 3, 2025
Couvra said: “I am really, really happy to win this award. You only have one time in your career when it is your rookie season.
“For my first year I just wanted to be in position in each tournament and to play in the final event.
“It surprised me winning so early in Turkey, but we work every day for it. So it was a surprise, but my team and me wanted it for my first year, so I was surprised but happy.
“That win gave me a lot of confidence. To play great and make a lot of putts is fine, but to win a tournament is different. When you win one tournament on this tour, you think you can do it again, so it is all about confidence for me.”
Couvra earned his DP World Tour card for the 2025 season after graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour, finishing 17th on the 2024 Road to Mallorca rankings. That came after he won the 2023 Challenge de España in the previous season when he became only the seventh player in history to win as an amateur on the HotelPlanner Tour.
He made an equally impressive start to his DP World Tour career in 2025, posting top ten finishes at Alfred Dunhill Championship (tied seventh), Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship (tied fourth), Commercial Bank Qatar Masters (tied fifth) and the Hainan Classic (fifth), before his maiden victory in Turkey.
Couvra started the final round of the Turkish Airlines Open four shots back at Regnum Carya, but claimed a breakthrough win courtesy of a superb final round of 64 to finish two strokes clear of China’s Haotong Li and Spain’s Jorge Campillo.
He followed that victory by adding further top ten finishes in the Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand (tied eighth) and the Italian Open, where he finished runner up to his compatriot Adrien Saddier.
Couvra earned the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award by finishing as the leading eligible player on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World. He ended the season in 19th position, one spot ahead of his nearest competitor for the award, 21 year old Spaniard Angel Ayora.
Guy Kinnings, Chief Executive Officer of the DP World Tour, said: “On behalf of everyone at the DP World Tour, I would like to congratulate to Martin on winning the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 2025.
“He enjoyed a hugely impressive debut season on the DP World Tour, not only in terms of his results but also in terms of the manner of his performances.
“Martin clearly has the talent to build on the considerable success of his rookie campaign, and his development so far is testament to the strength of our pathways system, having emerged from the amateur game to earn his place on golf’s global Tour via the HotelPlanner Tour.
“He is also part of a strong group of French players currently competing on the DP World Tour, as one of eight to finish in the top 100 on the 2025 Race to Dubai, reflecting the enduring legacy of the country hosting the 2018 Ryder Cup.
“We hope Martin has a big future ahead of him and we will certainly look forward to observing his progress.”
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year
1960 Tommy Goodwin (ENG)
1961 Alex Caygill (ENG)
1963 Tony Jacklin (ENG)
1966 Robin Liddle (SCO)
1968 Bernard Gallacher (SCO)
1969 Peter Oosterhuis (ENG)
1970 Stuart Brown (ENG)
1971 David Llewellyn (WAL)
1972 Sam Torrance (SCO)
1973 Philip Elson (ENG)
1974 Carl Mason (ENG)
1976 Mark James (ENG)
1977 Sir Nick Faldo (ENG)
1978 Sandy Lyle (SCO)
1979 Mike Miller (SCO)
1980 Paul Hoad (ENG)
1981 Jeremy Bennett (ENG)
1982 Gordon Brand Jnr. (SCO)
1983 Grant Turner (ENG)
1984 Philip Parkin (WAL)
1985 Paul Thomas (WAL)
1986 José María Olazábal (ESP)
1987 Peter Baker (ENG)
1988 Colin Montgomerie (SCO)
1989 Paul Broadhurst (ENG)
1990 Russell Claydon (ENG)
1991 Per-Ulrik Johansson (SWE)
1992 Jim Payne (ENG)
1993 Gary Orr (SCO)
1994 Jonathan Lomas (ENG)
1995 Jarmo Sandelin (SWE)
1996 Thomas Björn (DEN)
1997 Scott Henderson (SCO)
1998 Olivier Edmond (FRA)
1999 Sergio Garcia (ESP)
2000 Ian Poulter (ENG)
2001 Paul Casey (ENG)
2002 Nick Dougherty (ENG)
2003 Peter Lawrie (IRL)
2004 Scott Drummond (SCO)
2005 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (ESP)
2006 Marc Warren (SCO)
2007 Martin Kaymer (GER)
2008 Pablo Larrazábal (ESP)
2009 Chris Wood (ENG)
2010 Matteo Manassero (ITA)
2011 Tom Lewis (ENG)
2012 Ricardo Santos (POR)
2013 Peter Uihlein (USA)
2014 Brooks Koepka (USA)
2015 Byeong Hun An (KOR)
2016 Jeunghun Wang (KOR)
2017 Jon Rahm (ESP)
2018 Shubhankar Sharma (IND)
2019 Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
2020 Sami Välimäki (FIN)
2021 Matti Schmid (GER)
2022 Thriston Lawrence (RSA)
2023 Ryo Hisatsune (JPN)
2024 Jesper Svensson (SWE)
2025 Martin Couvra (FRA)
