Was unable to match the highs of 2009 during the 2010 season as a persistent wrist injury severely hampered his form. Finished in 77th place in The Race to Dubai, meaning he missed out on a place in the season-ending Dubai World Championship, where he finished second to Lee Westwood the previous year, en route to a 12th place finish in The Race to Dubai. The injury-hit spell also meant he missed out on a place in The 2010 European Ryder Cup Team, having spent many months in the qualification places. Made his European Tour breakthrough with victory in the 2009 Madrid Masters, his third round 60 laying the foundations to a maiden success. That round will not appear in the record books as preferred lies were in place but it helped open up a seven-stroke lead at 54 holes. At 24 under par he was one better than the record all-time low 54-hole aggregate on The European Tour. The 2007 Challenge Tour Number Two turned professional at the end of 2006 after graduating from the University of Tennessee and winning the English Amateur Championship the same year, when he defeated Oliver Fisher in the final.