A strong finish over the back nine of the Beijing CBD International Golf Club in April 2009 helped him claim his second European Tour success in the Volvo China Open, holding off Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño by a solitary shot. That helped him qualify for the new-look Volvo World Match Play Championship where he just missed out on a semi-final spot, despite defeating both Paul Casey and Anthony Kim in the group stage. His success followed on from his dominance of The 2008 Celtic Manor Wales Open which was, for the first time, played over The Twenty Ten Course – the golf course specifically designed to host The 2010 Ryder Cup – where he finished four shots clear of the field for a wire-to-wire victory. Had six other top 20 finishes in 2008 to make it his best season to date, finishing 32nd on the Order of Merit. A native of Perth, Australia, his highlight as an amateur came when he won the prestigious Lake Macquarie Amateur Championship in his homeland in 2000, the year before he turned professional.