Won The European Tour Order of Merit in both 2003 and 2004 but was denied a hat-trick in 2005 when he injured ligaments in his left knee on holiday in July and had to have surgery which ruled him out for the rest of the season. Also missed out on his defense of the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth Club, where he had made history in 2004 by becoming the first player to win the event six times. A third Order of Merit title was a distinct possibility considering his start to the year which saw him win back-to-back in Dubai and Qatar and then record a stunning 13 shot victory in the BMW Asian Open in China. Nevertheless, his consistency did see him top the Greens in Regulation Category in The European Tour Statistics for 2005 and finish second behind Sergio Garcia in the Stroke Average Category.

Always a strong supporter of European golf, the Board of Directors of The European Tour announced, in January 1999, that he had been unanimously accorded Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour in recognition of his US Open Championship wins and his unprecedented three successive World Match Play Championship wins (1994-95-96), a feat he went on to repeat in 2002-03-04. In his amateur days back home in South Africa, he had the natural talent to play rugby union, cricket or golf as a youngster, but reached scratch at the age of 14 and decided to concentrate on golf. In 1992, he matched the feat of compatriot, Gary Player, by completing a hat-trick of South African Open, PGA and Masters titles.