As we prepare for the first event of the year at the Africa Open, here are 18 stats to look out for in 2011.
50 - events on The 2011 Race to Dubai.
29– destinations to be visited throughout the season.
6– Europeans in the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking at the start of the year.
13– lucky for Lee Westwood as he was the 13th World Number Once since the system was launched in 1986.
22 – rookies who graduated from the Qualifying School – a new record and plenty of new faces to look out for over the course of the coming season.
32– total number of rookies embarking on their debut seasons this year – 22 from the Qualifying School and 10 from the Challenge Tour.
40 – the age of Liam Bond (pictured) – the oldest rookie on Tour.
6,674– the yardage of East London Golf Club, venue of the first event of the calendar year – and the shortest course of the season.
196– Fully exempt Members to follow this year.
30– different nationalities represented among the fully exempt European Tour Members for 2011.
9– Challenge Tour graduates from 2009 who retained their card for the 2011 season – a record among the 20.
9– multiple winners in 2010 – will that number be beaten in 2011?
13– first-time winners in 2010 – another high target for 2011.
28- Holes in one in 2010. As a rough estimate and presuming 4 par 3s on each course with standard fields of 156 with 70 making the cut over 48 tournaments, there would have been over 86,000 attempts with a hole in one achieved once in every 3,099 tee shots on the par 3s!
5– wins by 2009 Challenge Tour graduates last season – the most wins by the graduation class.
11– the most top tens achieved in 2010 – with Francesco Molinari topping the list.
9– a record number of players who went through all three stages of the European Tour Qualifying School to earn their card.
5 – the number of players who gained over 300 World Ranking Points during the course of 2010. All five were European Tour Members – Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald and Ernie Els.
