South African Ernie Els was today named the European PGA Tour's player of the year.
The 33-year-old World No 3 enjoyed a memorable year by winning the British Open for the first time at Muirfield in July.
Els started the year off well by winning the Heineken Classic at Melbourne and he finished in style with an eight stroke win in the Sun City Classic last week.
He also won the Dubai Desert Classic, the Genuity Championship and a fourth World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.
He placed third in the European Order of Merit behind compatriot Retief Goosen and Ireland's Padraig Harrington while maintaining third place in the world rankings behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
"This is the perfect end to the perfect year," said Els.
"To win the Open at Muirfield was obviously a tremendous thrill. My goal at the start of the season was to add at least one more Major to my two US Open Championships and I achieved that - although I did have to do it the hard way!"