Comes from a sporting family as his great grandfather represented Belgium at basketball and water polo at the 1920 Olympic Games. Naturally gifted, he enjoyed a glittering amateur career then turned professional in November 2000 on his 18th birthday, three days before the start of the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage in Spain. Successfully negotiated all three stages and won the fifth card, becoming the then third-youngest player to achieve the feat. Won twice on the Challenge Tour and made his mark on a global stage during the 2012 Ryder Cup, when he became the first Belgian to play in the biennial tournament, having been selected as one of captain José María Olazábal’s wild-card choices after some impressive performances that year, including victory in the Volvo World Match Play Championship and second place in the Volvo China Open, a defence of the title he won a year earlier.