Arrived on golf’s big stage in considerable style at the beginning of March 2008 when he captured the Johnnie Walker Classic at the DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, a stunning back nine of 31 helping him romp to a three shot victory over the Australian pair of Greg Chalmers and Scott Strange and Japan’s Taichiro Kiyota. That ended a remarkable seven day spell for the New Zealander who, the previous Sunday, won his maiden Asian Tour title when he claimed the SAIL Open presented by Jaypee Greens, also in India. By the end of the season he had topped the Australasian Tour Order of Merit and won the New Zealand Golfer of the Year award. As an amateur, was highly rated and won several sporting awards in his home country. He finished fourth in the individual category of the Eisenhower Trophy in Paris in 1994, one stroke better than Tiger Woods. After an unsuccessful start to his professional career, he worked as a junior development officer at the Wellington Golf Association before rededicating himself to the game when he won the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006.