32-year old Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia who is also known as Chipputtsia recently ended his three-year drought when he emerged as the winner of the tri-sanctioned Avantha Masters. The Indian golfer bagged his win after a dramatic showdown with closest competitor Robert Coles of England.

His last victory prior to the 2011 Avantha Masters came at the inaugural Emaar-MGF Indian Masters at Delhi Golf Club in 2008. SSP produced one of the most memorable triumphs at the Indian Masters where he defeated an elite field that included South Africa’s Ernie Els. But a reoccurring wrist injury derailed his performance throughout the second half of the season.

He came close to picking up his second Asian Tour title at the SAIL Open in Delhi where he eventually finished fourth. He also finished tied eighth at the inaugural Handa Singapore Classic.

Thongchai Jaidee has established himself as one of Asia’s top player. He bagged his 13th Asian Tour title at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open in 2010, making him the player with the most number of victories on Tour so far

The 42-year old has also collected Top 10 finishes at the Maybank Malaysian Open 2010, Ballantine’s Championship, Black Mountain Masters to end the season in sixth place on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit.

2009 was an outstanding season for Thongchai as he claimed his 11th and 12th title with victories at the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open and Ballantine’s Championship in Korea. These back-to-back victories enabled him to break into the world’s Top 50 for the first time in his career. He also finished tied 13th at the British Open, a personal best at a Major.

Thongchai also lifted the Maybank Malaysian Open trophy for two years in a row – 2004 and 2005. He win the Asian Tour's order of Merit in 2009, his third Asian offer 2001 and 2004.

In his first season on the European Tour, John Parry collected his maiden title when he was named as the winner of the Vivendi Cup in Paris. The 25-year old has won several high profile amateur tournaments including the Danish and Spanish Amateur Championships and represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup before turning professional in 2007.

Parry won the 2009 Allianz Golf Open Grand Toulouse on the Challenge Tour and ended his season in 14th place on the Challenge Tour Rankings to earn his card on the European Tour for 2010.

With five professional wins next to his name, Australia’s Marcus Fraser, worked his way up from working at a supermarket to turning into a professional golfer in 2002. Fraser achieved a stunning feat at the co-sanctioned 2010 Ballantine’s Championship after leaving both Gareth Maybin and Brett Rumford in the dust with a four-stroke margin.

Fraser’s career catapulted in 2003 where he won three tournaments in one month – the Danish Open, the Talma Finnish Challenge and the Russian Open. He secured his Tour card in 2004 and maintained his playing status since, by consistently finishing inside the Top 120 on the Order of Merit with a best of 51st place in 2004.

Standing at 6 foot 2 inches, Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed claimed the 2010 Italian Open title after his 245th attempt at the trophy. The 39-year old won by a margin of two shots after shooting a one-over par 73 to end a 13-year drought and simultaneously picking up USD$285,877 in prize money.

Andersson Hed has had two victories on the Challenge Tour but found success hard to come by on Tour, as he returned to qualifying school on numerous occasions.

But Andersson Hed had a turnaround in 2010 when he finished 22th on the Tour’s Order of Merit.

Natural born athlete, Rhys Davies was presented with the option of playing cricket or golf professionally as a teenager. And thus far has no regret choosing golf over cricket after he captured his maiden European Tour title at the Trophee Hassan II in March 2010.

Davies went on to enjoy a fine rookie season, finishing 18th in the Race to Dubai with a further three runner-up finishes. He was also Europe’s 12th man for the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort where they eventually snatched the trophy from the Americans.

Davies bagged the SWALEC Wales Challenge in July 2009 and became the first Welshman to do so since Jamie Donaldson in 2007 to win on the Challenge Tour. Subsequently, he went on to win the Fred Olsen Challenge de Espana en route to finishing fourth in the rankings, despite having played fewer events than anyone else in the top 20.

Andrew Dodt took up Affiliate Membership of the European Tour the week before the Avantha Masters in New Delhi and prospered immediately by winning in India in his first start of 2010.

Dodt enjoyed a successful 2009 season on the Asian Tour and finishing 15th in the Order of Merit after Top 10 finishes at the Macau Open and the Barclays Singapore Open. He came close to securing his maiden Asian Tour title in 2008 but was beaten in a playoff for the Hana Bank Vietnam Masters by Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

The Australian started playing golf at the tender age of four when his father took him to the Gatton Golf Club in Brisbane. He emerged as the runner-up at the New Zealand Amateur Open in 2006 and won the 2007 Australian Amateur Stroke Play. That win earned him a spot in the 2007 MFS Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in December and he subsequently turned professional.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello made his European Tour victory breakthrough in the late summer of 2009 at the Austrian Golf Open, producing one of the great rounds of the year, a final day 60, to storm through the field for victory.

He also won the Spanish National Championship every year from Under seven to under-18 level after taking the game up at the age of six in his back garden which backed onto a golf course.

Studied business, economics and business law at University, and still has to complete his degree. His studies were interrupted by his rise through the professional golfing ranks as he finished 14th on the 2006 Challenge Tour Rankings following victory at the MAN NO Open in Austria. Cabrera-Bello narrowly missed out on retaining his European Tour playing privileges, but secured an immediate return to the elite level courtesy of a tremendously consistent 2008 season on the Challenge Tour, during which he claimed his second title at the Credit Suisse Challenge.

Pablo Martin made European Tour history when he became the first amateur to win a European Tour event when he captured the 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal then added a second Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, the first event of the 2010 Race to Dubai. Martin went on to complete a hat-trick of firsts by successfully defending his title 12 months later in the opening tournament of the 2011 calendar.

Martin became the first amateur to lead the Canarias Open de Espana in 2003 after completing 54 holes before finishing in a tie of 22nd place. Two years prior to the event, he equaled Mark Mouland’s record as the youngest winner of the British Boys Championship at age 15-years and 120 days.

While Martin was in college he won the Big 12 Championship Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006 and won both the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards, presented annually to the nation’s best college golfer.

Hailing from a family of sporting pedigree, Peter Hedblom’s sister Marlene is also a professional golfer. Hedblom endured a rocky start to his early career, attending the Qualifying School on six consecutive occasions between 1988 and 1993.

The 41-year old also won the 1996 Moroccan Open but had to wait 11 years for his second victory, during which time he missed much of the 2002 season after breaking his leg in an ice hockey match. Claimed the 2007 Maybank Malaysian Open, then won his first title on European soil when he clinched the 2009 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. It was a just reward for the Swede who lost a play-off – the fourth of his career – the previous week in the KLM Open. The 2010 season failed to match the heights of 2009, with just two top ten finishes contributing to his 89th place in The Race to Dubai.