• Birthplace: York, England
• Residence: Manchester, England
• Age: 33
• Turned Pro: 1999
• Eligibility Code: ELIGIBILITY CODE: 6

After two wins in the KLM Open and victory in the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open, he claimed the biggest title of his career when he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the ‘Home of Golf’. His success at St Andrews – his second victory of the 2009 season after the KLM Open – took him into the world’s top 50 for the first time and helped him to eighth in The Race to Dubai. Comes from a family with a rich sporting pedigree. His grandfather was a jockey; father, John, is a bookmaker and his uncle Terry played in Tottenham’s double-winning team in 1960-61. Encouraged to take up golf by his older brother Nick. Achieved a scratch handicap by the age of 16. Runner-up in the English Amateur Championship in 1999 but won the Finnish Amateur title and was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland side which won the Walker Cup at Nairn that year. Turned professional in September 1999. A promising footballer on the books of York City and Scarborough as a teenager, gained second card in the Asian PGA Tour School in January 2000 and broke through by claiming three titles on his way to winning the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and Order of Merit.

Other Victories

Asian Tour Wins: 4 - 2000 Macau Open, Volvo China Open & Omega Hong Kong Open, 2006 Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open