Placed 79th and 80th in the first two editions of The Race to Dubai after steady if unspectacular seasons. Won the World Cup for Germany in Barbados in 2006 when he teamed up with Bernhard Langer but the following season his form dipped and he lost his card. Underlined his support of the Challenge Tour at the start of 2007 when he lent his name to the POSTBANK Challenge presented by Marcel Siem. That support reflected the rapid progress he made from the Approved Third Level EPD Tour through the Challenge Tour, before a final step up to The European Tour and his first tournament win in South Africa in 2004, a journey which took just three years. Owned his first club as a two year old when he would play with a little putter but really started playing at the age of six. Parents ran a golf club restaurant at Burge Overbach in Cologne. His father, Heinz, was a professional handball player before getting injured when aged 23. Worked with German coach Gunther Kessler for 15 years and teamed up again in 2001 after a four-year break.