Africa Open overseas player profiles
ANDY SULLIVAN
The former Walker Cup representative first sprang to prominence in 2014 with five top-10 finishes to end 33rd in the Race to Dubai. His successful year included a hole-in-one at the KLM Open, which won him a trip to space.
2015 has been a glorious year for him, beating home favourite Charl Schwartzel in a playoff, thanks to a superb approach shot from the Glendower rough, to win the SA Open, and then triumphing in the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington on a tense final day.
BORN – 19 May 1986
COUNTRY – England
TURNED PRO – 2011
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 7th
2015 RESULTS – 2 wins in Johannesburg at the SA Open & Joburg Open; T4 at Dubai Desert Classic
CAREER WINS – 2015 SA Open; 2015 Joburg Open
ALEX NOREN
His career has been hampered by injuries and he is currently on a medical extension having missed all but two events of the 2014 season due to tendonitis in both wrists. He won twice in 2011 and had seven top-10s in 2012.
He has a degree in Business Marketing from Oklahoma State University.
BORN – 12 July 1982
COUNTRY – Sweden
TURNED PRO – 2005
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 10th
2015 RESULTS – 2nd at Dubai Desert Classic, 9th at Qatar Masters & T11 at Thailand Classic
CAREER WINS – 2009 European Masters; 2011 Wales Open; 2011 Nordea Masters
ANDREW DODT
The winner of the inaugural Thailand Classic and the 2010 Avantha Masters in New Delhi, he is obviously comfortable in Asia having played there throughout 2014.
A native of Brisbane in north-eastern Australia, he started playing golf when he was four, at the local Gatton Golf Club.
BORN – 26 January 1986
COUNTRY – Australia
TURNED PRO – 2007
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 14th
2015 RESULTS – 1st at Thailand Classic; T36 at Malaysian Open
CAREER WINS – 2010 Avantha Masters; 2015 Thailand Classic
GREGORY BOURDY
Coming from a golf-loving family, he started played the game when he was four.
His Hong Kong Open triumph came when held off a charging Rory McIlroy and he also won the Wales Open with a hat-trick of birdies.
A keen visitor to South Africa.
BORN – 25 April 1982
COUNTRY – France
TURNED PRO – 2003
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 22nd
2015 RESULTS – T5 at Qatar Masters & Malaysian Open; T13 at Dubai Desert Classic
CAREER WINS – 2007 Mallorca Classic; 2008 Portugal Open; 2009 Hong Kong Open; 2013 Wales Open
THOMAS PIETERS
There are lofty expectations for the lanky Belgian after he won the NCAA Golf Championship while at college in the United States.
Lost to Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff at the Spanish Open in his rookie season last year, finishing 83rd in the Race to Dubai. Since then his ranking has risen into the top 25 on the order of merit.
Took up golf along with his whole family when they played when on holiday in South Africa in 1997.
BORN – 27 January 1992
COUNTRY – Belgium
TURNED PRO – 2013
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 24th
2015 RESULTS – T4 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T8 at Alfred Dunhill Championship; T16 Malaysian Open
CAREER WINS – 0
BYEONG-HUN AN
The son of two Olympic table tennis medalists, Jiao Zhimin and Ahn Jae-Hyung (she represented China and his father South Korea), An has been based in the United States for more than six years.
The youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship when he triumphed in 2009, he followed another winner into Europe in Peter Uihlein.
BORN – 17 September 1991
COUNTRY – South Korea
TURNED PRO – 2011
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 27th
2015 RESULTS – T5 at Qatar Masters; T7 at Joburg Open; T12 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T13 at Dubai Desert Classic
CAREER WINS – 0
MORTEN ORUM MADSEN
Told the media after his memorable SA Open triumph at Glendower that his maiden win had given him more hunger but also greater calmness and no fear on the golf course.
Had seven top-20 finishes in his rookie season on tour, including a T4 finish at the Nelson Mandela Championship.
He comes from the same club, Silkeborg GK, as Thomas Bjorn, who he considers a role-model. Wanted to be a footballer, but his father finally managed to win him over to golf when he was 12.
BORN – 9 April 1988
COUNTRY – Denmark
TURNED PRO – 2011
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 29th
2015 RESULTS – T4 at Dubai Desert Classic; T12 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T16 at Alfred Dunhill Championship
CAREER WINS – 2014 South African Open
ANDREW JOHNSTON
Finished on top of the Challenge Tour rankings in 2014 and began this season on a high with a third-placed finish at Leopard Creek.
Known as “Beef”, he is a powerful driver of the ball.
BORN – 18 February 1989
COUNTRY – England
TURNED PRO – 2009
RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 33rd
2015 RESULTS – 3rd at Alfred Dunhill Championship; T35 at Dubai Desert Classic
CAREER WINS – 0