Raphaël Jacquelin became only the second Frenchman in history to make 500 European Tour appearances on the first day of the Shenzhen International.
Jacquelin, who signed for an opening round of 71 at Genzon Golf Club, follows in the footsteps of his compatriot Thomas Levet in reaching the milestone.
The 40 year old, who has two Challenge Tour and four European Tour titles to his name, is the 28th player to achieve the landmark.
He said: “It’s a strange feeling because my first year on the Tour was in 1997, so I feel like I’ve been out here for a very long time now; but then at the same time, it feels like it was only yesterday.
“I’m very happy to make it 500 tournaments, and I’m still competing and going strong so I’ll try to stay around a bit longer. I’ve got so many great memories from my 18 years on Tour, and hopefully I’ll have even more when I finally decide to retire.”
The most recent of Jacquelin’s quartet of European Tour victories came at the Open de España in 2013, when he prevailed after a three-man, nine-hole play-off which equalled the longest in Tour history.
His breakthrough win also came on Spanish soil, in the 2005 Open de Madrid, where he opened up a commanding lead after three successive rounds of 64 before holding off a final day charge from Scot Paul Lawrie to seal victory by three strokes.
In between those two victories, Jacquelin also won the 2007 BMW Asian Open and the inaugural Sicilian Open in 2011.
Having turned professional shortly after winning the 1995 French Amateur Championship, Jacquelin soon made his way onto the Challenge Tour by reaching the Qualifying School Final in 1996.
He enjoyed immediate success, finishing fourth in the Rankings thanks chiefly to his victories in the Memorial Olivier Barras and the Dutch Challenge.
Jacquelin subsequently graduated to The European Tour and has remained on the top tier ever since, finishing a career-high 20th in the Money List in 2003.
From his 499 previous appearances on The European Tour, Jacquelin has recorded a total of 67 top ten finishes. He has finished in the money 339 times, in the process making €10,001,587 in official career earnings.
