The race for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award has rarely been closer than it is in 2015 - and never has it had a more international feel.
Up until 2013, only players from continental Europe and the British Isles had managed to get their hands on the honour but the expansion of the European Tour International Schedule in recent years has seen more and more players from all around the world bring their considerable talents to the Tour.
American Peter Uihlein was the first non European to win and in 2014 his countryman Brooks Koepka picked up the award, but this year it is Asia that is mounting a major challenge.
India's Anirban Lahiri came flying out of the gate early in the season, winning two of his first four events at the Maybank Malaysian Open and the Hero India Open.
Two top six finishes in his last three events have seen the 28 year old get to 11th in the Race to Dubai and he comes into this week's UBS Hong Kong Open as the highest ranked rookie on the European Tour - but only just.
Hot on his heels is Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick who has more top three finishes than anyone else on The European Tour this season.
The 21 year old had finished on the metaphorical podium four times before he broke his duck at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports earlier this month and he sits just one place and 51,909 points behind Lahiri in the standings.
Their hometowns of Pune and Sheffield may be separated by almost 4,600 miles but the battle between these two for silverware could not be much closer and they are both excited by the prospect of following in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Nick Faldo, José María Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie and Martin Kaymer.
"I think it's going to be the cherry on top I would say," said Lahiri. "It's been a fantastic rookie year for me. I have been out here for years, but not as a full member, so I don't quite feel like a rookie.
"But yeah, it would be fantastic. Couldn't have asked for a better season honestly.
"I'd love to win at least once more. Ideally win one of the big ones and try and jump my (world) rankings into the top 25 or so. That's definitely something that I would like to do by the end of the year."
It's been a year of resetting a lot of goals and it's been a lot of fun achieving a lot of them. So it would be great to achieve this one, too - Anirban Lahiri
While Lahiri would be the first Asian to win the award, Fitzpatrick would be the 22nd Englishman in a season that has seen the country claim its 300th European Tour win.
That came from Andy Sullivan, a three-time winner this year, at the Portugal Masters and Fitzpatrick would become the first English winner of the Sir Henry Cotton award since Tom Lewis in 2011.
"I'd love to (win it)," he said. "Looking forward to the end of the year and hopefully a few more good results might sneak me over the line.
"It would be great. Just look at the names who have won it in the past. That's sort of a very small aim. I'm just really trying to play golf to be fair."
He added: "I think there's a lot of great young players, English players coming through at the minute. I have to admit 300 doesn't sound actually a lot but I'm sure it is in comparing to others. It's just great to see."
Another strong contender for the award is South Korea's Byeong Hun An who claimed a record-breaking six shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship.
The 24 year old also has three other top tens to sit 14th in the Race to Dubai and his win was one of seven by Asian players on this year's European Tour.
Lahiri's early double was followed two months later by Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat's triumph at the Shenzhen International. China's Ashun Wu then won the following week's Volvo China Open before An stormed to victory at Wentworth.
Aphibarnrat then claimed a second win of the season at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play before veteran Thai Thongchai Jaidee won the Porsche European Open last month.
Add that to the likes of Hideki Matsuyama sitting at 15th in the World Rankings and 2015 has been a brilliant year for Asian golf.
"We've had a lot of wins, especially this year," continued Lahiri. "That's not something that's happened in the past. It's always been the one odd Asian winner or two in a good year.
"Hopefully that's a trend that continues in the time to come. We've all kind of graduated from the Asian Tour sort of. So it's obviously showing good results, having been out here and worked on improving our game.
"I think we are all moving towards becoming more global players and trying to get more and more world class in what we do. It's fantastic to see and it's hopefully something that carries on in the time to come."
