WITH THIS WIN
SUNDAY JANUARY 15, 2012 – JOBURG OPEN
• Gains his first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 50th European Tour event.
• Moves to €220,000 in The Race to Dubai.
• Moves to just outside the top 160 of the Official World Golf Ranking, from 258th.
• This victory beats his previous best European Tour performance of tied sixth in the 2009 South African Open Championship.
• Becomes the first, first-time winner of the 2012 season.
• This victory is the third consecutive South African victory in the Joburg Open, following Charl Schwartzel in 2010 and 2011.
• Graduated from the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School. Becomes the first Qualifying School graduate to win on The European Tour, the year after graduation since Simon Khan at the 2010 BMW PGA Championship.
• This victory continues with South Africa’s recent run of wins on The European Tour. They have now won four of the last six European Tour events. They are: Garth Mulroy (2011 Alfred Dunhill Championship – Nov 11), Hennie Otto (2011 South African Open Championship – Nov 11), Louis Oosthuizen (2012 Africa Open) and Branden Grace (2012 Joburg Open).
OTHER FACTS
• Becomes the 30th different South African to win on The European Tour.
• Becomes the 103rd South African victory in European Tour history.
• Becomes the 399th different player to win on The European Tour.
• Becomes the third different South African to win the Joburg Open, following Richard Sterne (2008) and Schwartzel (2010-2011) and for the fourth time out of the six it has been played, dating back to the 2007 season.
• Join Ariel Canete (2007) as players to make the Joburg Open their first European Tour victory.
• This victory sees the Joburg Open follow the Africa Open from seven days ago in producing three consecutive South African winners of these two events, dating back from the 2010 season.
• Becomes the 34th different player to win on The European Tour Qualifying School, the year after graduation.
• Gains his largest European Tour prize of €206,050.
• Gains a European Tour exemption until the end of 2013.
• Gains a place in the 2012 Volvo Golf Champions.
• Gains his second victory as a professional.
