2011: Entered the Open de Espana on the European Tour with a two-stroke lead and proceeded to shoot a 2-under 70 Sunday, which was enough to hold off Anders Hansen by the same two-stroke margin. The victory was his first on the European Tour, and he dedicated the win in Spain to World Golf Hall of Famer Seve Ballesteros, who died two days earlier.

Of his other four top-10 finishes, his best were solo fifths at both the Madrid Masters and the Castello Masters. 2010: Came close to winning the Africa Open. He was tied with Trevor Fisher through 54 holes at East London GC, shot a final-round, 3-under 70 but watched as Charl Schwartzel stormed from behind to win by one.

Had another good chance to win later in the year, at the Trophy Hassan II. Was three strokes off the pace after 36 holes and only four behind Louis Oosthuizen following the third round. He shot a final-round 71 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco to T3. 2009: Recorded 10 top-10s on two Tours, with his top performances a pair of fourth-place showings. His first came on the Sunshine Tour, at the Telkom PGA Championship. He later added a T4 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on the European Tour.

His other top-five came at the BMW Italian Open.

Playing in his first World Golf Championships event, he T7 at the Cadillac Championship in Florida with friend Trevor Fisher as his caddie. He had finished second to Fisher, a South African professional, earlier in his career at the 2006 Eskom Power Cup. 2008: He had a pair of fourth-place outings on the Sunshine Tour, at the Dimension Data Pro-Am and at the Dunhill Championship, two strokes behind Richard Sterne's winning 271 total.

His top performance on the European Tour was a T13 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. 2007: Made 10 Nationwide Tour appearances, getting to the weekend three times. Best finish on the circuit was a T13 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship.

On the Sunshine Tour, his best outing of the campaign was a T11 at the Telkom PGA Championship.

Of his five European Tour starts, his best finish was a T45 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. 2006: He finished seventh on the Sunshine Tour order of merit despite not winning. He was runner-up in five tournaments. His first came at the Telkom PGA Championship, losing by six strokes to Gregory Bourdy.

Three months later, at the Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria, a 54-hole event, he finished six strokes behind Vaughn Groenwald.

At the Eskom Power Cup, his friend Trevor Fisher outlasted him by three strokes.

He again finished second in Namibia, at the MTC Namibian PGA Championship, where he shot a final-round 63 but fell just short of Anton Haig, losing by one shot.

His final close call of the season was at the Platinum Classic where Groenwald again won, this time by one stroke.

He missed the cut in his lone Asian Tour start and missed all four cuts in his European Tour appearances.

Played in his first major championship, the British Open, missing the cut. 2005: Had a four-tournament Sunshine Tour stretch, where he won twice and was runner-up twice. Rolled to his first professional title, at the Sunshine Tour's Telkom PGA Pro-Am in September. At the 54-hole event, he shot three rounds in the 60s and cruised to a six-shot win over Henks Alberts.

The following week, at the Vodacom Origins of Golf, he dropped a one-stroke decision to Hennie Otto.

A month later, at the 54-hole BearingMan Highveld Classic, three straight sub-70 rounds left him two strokes shy of winner Bradford Vaughan.

His second Sunshine Tour win came at the MTC Namibian PGA Championship, when he opened with a 63 and beat a quartet of players by four strokes. 2004: Won three times on the Sunshine Tour and added two other top-five finishes. The first professional victory of his career came at the Vodacom Legends Tour at Zimbali, where he forced a playoff with Keith Horne and then went on to win.

Three weeks later, at the Vodacom Legends Tour at Sun City, he defeated Des Terblanche by three strokes.

His final win of the year, at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Championship, came during difficult weather conditions on the final two days. Despite shooting back-to-back 73s to end the tournament, he still defeated Jean Hugo by seven strokes.

At age 9, Martin Witcher had become his coach. Later joined the Randpark GC Academy, where he played alongside Anton Haig.