DID YOU KNOW – ALFRED DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP
• The championship has a history of producing debut winners. Since the first playing in 2000, eight have entered the winners circle for the first time on The European Tour. They are: Anthony Wall (2000), Adam Scott (2001), Justin Rose (2002), Mark Foster (2003), Marcel Siem (2004), Charl Schwartzel (2005), Alvaro Quiros (2007) and Garth Mulroy (Nov 2011).
• Defending champion, Charl Schwartzel will be looking to join a very exclusive club of players winning the same official European Tour event on five or more occasions. Should he do this he would join Tiger Woods eight – WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and seven at the WGC – Mexico Championship), and Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer, both five in The Open Championship and German Open respectively.
• The last player to win the same event in back-t0back years was also South African, Branden Grace at the 2015-16 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
• The 2003 championship witnessed, for only the second time in European Tour history a six-man play-off. Mark Foster was the player who prevailed, beating Anders Hansen, Trevor Immelman, Paul Lawrie, Doug McGuigan and Bradford Vaughan. The first time this occurred was the 1990 Vino Verde Atlantic Open.
• European Tour history was made in the 2007 tournament, when Alvaro Quiros became the first player to win a European Tour event in his first event as a full Member, having graduated from the 2006 European Tour Qualifying School.
• Charl Schwartzel has played in the tournament 11 times at Leopard Creek. Apart from his four wins has also been placed second on a further four occasions; in the 2006 season, 2007, 2010 and 2011 and is 122 under par. His stroke average for these 11 events is 69.09. He has played 42 competitive rounds in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at the Leopard Creek venue. Of those 42 Schwartzel has been at par or better in 39 of them, with just three rounds over the par of 72.
• In the 2013 event European Tour history was made when Keith Horne became the first player to make two holes-in-one at the same hole in consecutive rounds of the same tournament. He aced the par three 12th on days two and three.
