SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2012 – UBS HONG KONG OPEN
• His 19th European Tour International Schedule victory in his 597th European Tour event.
• Moves to 27th in The Race to Dubai with €910,255.
• At aged 48 years and 318 days becomes the oldest winner in European Tour history. He beats the previous record of Des Smyth who was 48 years and 34 days at the 2001 Madeira Islands Open.
• His first European Tour victory since the 2010 Omega European Masters. This is a gap of two years and 74 days.
• In that time he played in 61 European Tour events between victories.
• This victory beats previous best 2012 performance of tied fifth in the Ballantine’s Championship.
• The oldest winner on The European Tour since he won the 2010 Omega European Masters, aged 46 years and 243 days.
• His third victory in the UBS Hong Kong Open, following his wins in the 2005 and 2008 seasons.
• This represents the first event he has won three times.
• His third victory comes in his ninth appearance in the event since it became part of The European Tour in the 2002 season.
• His fourth top six finish in his nine starts in the event. Apart from his three wins he was also sixth in 2006.
• The sixth victory by a player aged 40 and over to win on The European Tour in 2012. They are: Paul Lawrie (Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles), Thongchai Jaidee (ISPS Handa Wales Open), Jeev Milkha Singh (Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open) and Ernie Els (The 141st Open Championship) and Miguel Angel Jiménez (UBS Hong Kong Open).
OTHER FACTS
• Extends his own European Tour record for most wins by a player aged 40 and over, to 12.
• Claims his sixth European Tour event on Asian soil. This creates a new European Tour record. Ernie Els is next with five.
• The third Spanish victory of the 2012 European Tour season. He follows Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Omega Dubai Desert Classic) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi).
• The 166th Spanish victory in European Tour history.
• Extends his European Tour exemption until the end of 2014.
• Gains a place in the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions and 2013 WGC – HSBC Champions.
• His 22nd win as a professional.
