Virginia Water, Britain - The European Tour on Friday announced that English golfer Ross Fisher has been named the Golfer of the Month for October. The 28-year-old stunned American Ryder Cup player Anthony Kim in the 36 hole final of the Volvo World Match Play Championship to win the prestigious competition.
Fisher benefited from a new format that saw players compete on a round-robin basis and although he lost his opening game to compatriot Lee Westwood.
He bounced back, however, and beat Jeev Milkha Singh and Camilo Villegas before coming up against Angel Cabrera in the semi-finals, winning that match on the 39th green.
"It is a great thing to win the Golfer of the Month award - I was really thrilled when I was told about it," said Fisher. "It is the icing on the cake after what was a fantastic win for me in Spain and it is a huge honour and a massive privilege for me to be voted for by the panel. It shows that people do take note when you produce good performances."
Times journalist Peter Dixon, who is a part of the judging panel, said that even though the decision had not been an easy one as there were many excellent performances, they had opted for Fisher.
"It was felt that Ross Fisher's overall performance throughout the week against top quality opposition saw him merit the award.
"To have the ability and endurance to beat Masters Champion Angel Cabrera in a classic semi-final before seeing off Anthony Kim, one of America's biggest successes in last year's Ryder Cup, in the final, was truly special," Dixon said.
Previous winners of The 2009 Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month Award are: Rory McIlroy (January), Geoff Ogilvy (February), Soren Kjeldsen (March), Angel Cabrera (April), Shane Lowry (May), Nick Dougherty (June), Martin Kaymer (July), Lee Westwood (August) and Rafael Cabrera-Bello (September).
The overall winner will be selected following the Dubai World Championship in November, where the winner of The Race to Dubai will be confirmed.
