SUNDAY MARCH 2, 2014 – TSHWANE OPEN
• His fifth European Tour International Schedule victory in his 210th European Tour event.
• Moves to €359,517 in The Race to Dubai.
• Would move into the top 70 of the Official World Golf Ranking, from 82nd.
• His first European Tour victory since the Irish Open in 2010. This is a gap of three years and 213 days and is the biggest gap between victories in his European Tour career.
• In that time he played in 79 European Tour events between victories.
• This victory beats his previous best European Tour finishes since his 2010 win of second in the 2012 Nordea Masters, 2012 Portugal Masters and 2013 ISPS HANDA Perth International.
• This victory beats his previous best 2014 European Tour performance of tied third in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
• Has now won his five European Tour events in five different countries. They are: The Netherlands (2007 KLM Open), England (2008 European Open), Spain (2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship), Ireland (2010 Irish Open) and South Africa (2014 Tshwane Open).
• Victory comes in his first appearance in the Tshwane Open.
• Began the day with a five shot lead. This is the biggest 54 hole lead of the 2014 season to date, beating the previous best of three by Jamie Donaldson at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
• Continues with his 100% record of winning all four of his European Tour stroke play victories when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes. In 2007 shared the lead in the KLM Open by two; the 2008 European Open led by three; the 2010 Irish Open by one and the 2014 Tshwane Open by five.
• This performance is his third top ten finish in his seven events this season. Was tied third in the Alfred Dunhill Championship, tied tenth in the Joburg Open and first in the Tshwane Open.
OTHER FACTS
• Is only the third player this season to win after leading going into the final round. They are: Charl Schwartzel (Alfred Dunhill Championship), Stephen Gallacher (Omega Dubai Desert Classic) and Ross Fisher (Tshwane Open).
• His winning total in relation to par of 20 under equals the largest of the 2014 season, matching Thomas Björn (Nedbank Golf Challenge) and Thomas Aiken (Africa Open).
• Becomes the 284th English victory in European Tour history.
• Becomes the first Englishman to win on the 2014. European Tour International Schedule.
• Becomes the first English win on The European Tour since David Lynn at the 2013 Portugal Masters.
• This victory continues with England’s trend of being the only country to win in every European Tour season.
• Becomes the first Englishman to win a co-sanctioned event with the Sunshine Tour since John Bickerton won the 2008 Alfred Dunhill Championship (played in Dec 2007).
• Gains a European Tour exemption until the end of the 2016 season.
• Gains a place in the 2015 Volvo Golf Champions.
• Gains his fifth win as a professional.
• Becomes the sixth European Tour win of the 2014 season by a former Challenge Tour player. They are: Morten Ørum Madsen (South African Open Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni), Thomas Björn (Nedbank Golf Challenge), Louis Oosthuizen (Volvo Golf Champions), Pablo Larrazábal (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship), Stephen Gallacher (Omega Dubai Desert Classic) and Ross Fisher (Tshwane Open).
• Becomes the 335th European Tour victory by a former Challenge Tour player.
