SUNDAY MARCH 20, 2016 - HERO INDIAN OPEN
SSP CHAWRASIA
• His third European Tour International Schedule victory in his 166th European Tour event.
• Moves to 246,588 points in The Race to Dubai.
• Could move to inside the top 150 of the Official World Golf Ranking, from 243rd.
• His first European Tour victory since the 2011 Avantha Masters, a gap of five years and 28 days.
• In that time has played in 91 European Tour events between victories.
• This victory beats his previous best European Tour performance since his 2011 win of second in the 2015 Hero Indian Open.
• This victory beats his previous best 2016 European Tour performance of tied 85th in the True Thailand Classic presented by Chang. (Also missed the cut in Maybank Championship Malaysia and ISPS HANDA Perth International).
• Made European Tour history with his first win at the 2008 EMAAR –MGF Indian Masters, by winning on his first appearance as an Affiliate Member; the first player to achieve this feat. Played in 73 European Tour events between his first and second win. Played a further 91 European Tour events between wins two and three.
• Becomes the third player in European Tour history to win their first three European Tour victories on home soil, following the 2008 EMAAR – MGF Indian Masters and 2011 Avantha Masters, also in India. The first player was England’s Tommy Horton (1972 Piccadilly Medal, 1974 Penfold Tournament and 1976 Uniroyal International) then followed by Phil Micklelson of the United States (2004 Masters Tournament, 2005 US PGA Championship and 2006 Masters Tournament).
• The second of his three European Tour titles he has won at Delhi Golf Club, following the 2008 EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters. (Also won the 2014 Panasonic Open India at Delhi Golf Club on the Asian Tour).
• This victory beats his previous best finishes in the Hero Indian Open of second on four occasions, including 2015.
OTHER FACTS
• The third Indian player to win three or more European Tour titles, following Jeev Milkha Singh (four) and Arjun Atwal (three).
• Led by two shots going into the final round. Also led by two at the same stage in 2015. The tenth 54 hole leader to go on and win on the 2016 European Tour to date from the 14 events played.
• Becomes the sixth different Asian player to win three or more European Tour titles. They are: Thongchai Jaidee (seven), Jeev Milkha Singh (four), Arjun Atwal (three), Y E Yang (three), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (three) and SSP Chawrasia (three).
• The 12th Indian victory in European Tour history.
• The first Indian victory on The European Tour since Anirban Lahiri won the 2015 Hero Indian Open.
• The first time India have won the same European Tour event in two consecutive seasons.
• Moves into joint second in the list of all-time Indian winners in European Tour history, level with Arjun Atwal, on three and one behind Jeev Milkha Singh.
• Has won his first three European Tour titles on Asian soil. The first player to achieve this feat since Thongchai Jaidee, who won the 2004-05 Carlsberg Malaysian Open and 2009 Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open.
• The second consecutive Indian to win the Hero Indian Open following Anirban Lahiri in 2015.
• Becomes the ninth different Indian to win the Hero Indian Open since the event was first played in 1964.
• Has now won €392,257 in his last two appearances in the Hero Indian Open, He won €145,669 for finishing second in 2015 and €246,588 in 2016.
• Like Scott Hend, who won the True Thailand Classic presented by Chang seven days ago, who was second in 2015 and went one better this season.
• His 14th win as a professional, with all of them in India.
