WITH THIS WIN
SUNDAY JUNE 19, 2011 – SAINT OMER OPEN PRESENTED BY NEUFLIZE OBC
MATTHEW ZIONS
• His first European Tour International Schedule victory in his 45th European Tour event.
• Moves to €140,634 in The Race to Dubai.
• This victory beats his previous best European Tour finishes of tied ninth in the 2007 Valle Romano Open de Andalucía and 2008 Michael Hill New Zealand Open.
• This victory beats his previous best 2011 performance of tied 13th in the Ballantine’s Championship.
• His even shot winning margin is the largest in the history of the event, beating the six of Christian Nilsson in 2009.
• Graduated from the 2010 Challenge Tour Rankings. Is the first 2010 graduate to win on The European Tour in the 2011 season. Is the first Challenge Tour graduate to win on The European Tour since John Parry at the 2010 Vivendi Cup.
• The fifth first-time winner of the 2011 season. The first-time winners are: Nick Watney (WGC – Cadillac Championship), Nicolas Colsaerts (Volvo China Open), Thomas Aiken (Open de España), Robert Rock (BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi) and Matthew Zions (SAINT OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC).
• First time The European Tour has witnessed two consecutive first-time winners since Louis Oosthuizen (2010 Open de Andalucía de Golf) and James Morrison (2010 Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal).
• Joins Brett Rumford (2003), José-Filipe Lima (2004), Joakim Bäckström (2005), Cesar Monasterio (2006), Carl Suneson (2007), David Dixon (2008), Christian Nilsson (2009) and Martin Wiegele (2010), as players to make the SAINT OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC their first European Tour victory.
• This will be the first occasion he has led a European Tour event going into the final round in his European Tour career.
OTHER FACTS
• First Australian victory of the 2011 European Tour International Schedule.
• This victory by Matthew Zions extends Australia’s run of consecutive winning years on The European Tour to 28 dating back to the 1984 season.
• Joins Brett Rumford (2003) as Australian winners of the SAINT OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC.
• The 107th Australian victory in European Tour history.
• Becomes the 37th different Australian to win on The European Tour.
• The 392nd different player to win on The European Tour.
• Becomes the 22nd different Challenge Tour graduate to win the year after graduation.
• Gains a one year European Tour exemption until the end of the 2012 season.
• Gains his largest European Tour prize of €100,000.
• His first win as a professional.
