After suffering from 12 stitches during Qualifying School, James made a superb recovery to claim his Tour card in 2009 and followed that up with a stunning win in the opening-season event at the Asian Tour International in Bangkok. He had suffered a gash near his right toe prior to the final day at Qualifying School but produced a gritty final round to finish fourth. ...

After suffering from 12 stitches during Qualifying School, James made a superb recovery to claim his Tour card in 2009 and followed that up with a stunning win in the opening-season event at the Asian Tour International in Bangkok. He had suffered a gash near his right toe prior to the final day at Qualifying School but produced a gritty final round to finish fourth. At the Asian Tour International, James came from three shots back to beat Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan by two strokes. He further sweetened his year by earning an invitation from Jack Nicklaus to compete in the Memorial Tournament and then qualified for his maiden major appearance at the US Open at Bethpage Black course. Was invited by Tiger Woods to play a practice round during the US Open. Also finished fourth at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters after being in contention on the final day. Prior to joining the Asian Tour, James competed in Europe for two seasons but opted to focus on Asia.