There can't be too many players who have made their professional debut in the Open Championship but it happened to Jean. He turned professional prior to the 1999 Championship at Carnoustie only to miss the cut by a shot. His decision to join the professional ranks was prompted by his victory in the final of the 1998 South African Amateur Championship. "I realised I could be good at this game and would like to do it professionally," he said. Succeeded Trevor Immelman as champion, as he also did in the South African Stroke Play Championship in 1999. The Springbok comes from a sporting family. His father Victor was an athlete and played rugby, mother Esme was active in athletics and netball, sister Michelle has represented South Africa as a sprinter, while brother Jacques represented his province at golf but is now a practising dentist in London. Jean was an active cricket all-rounder and rugby fly half as a teenager while at Stellenbosch University but finally chose golf. Is a close friend of Ernie Els. Four top ten finishes in 2001 including the dunhill links championship where he picked up his biggest cheque on The European Tour.