Fife golfer Connor Syme taking time out on dad duty after gain in Spain and on home turf
Fife golfer Connor Syme is stepping back from the sport just as he’s finally finding form again after months of below-par performances and missed cuts.
That temporary banishing of the game to the back-burner is down to the Kirkcaldy-born 31-year-old being due to become a father for the first time this week, earning him an exemption until the end of next year.
His wife Alana was due to give birth on Monday, a day after Syme, attached to Drumoig Golf Centre, near St Andrews, finished up at the Open de Espana at Madrid in joint-37th place.
That was his second tournament on the bounce, after tying for 11th place on home turf at St Andrews in this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship the weekend prior – and third in the last four – to go the full four rounds.
Those two top-40 finishes and one in joint-53rd place at mid-September’s Irish Open in County Clare came after only making the cut once in his six previous outings, so he’s been glad to be back in leaderboards’ upper reaches despite having a DP World Tour card exemption running until the end of 2027, courtesy of his 2025 KLM open win at Amsterdam, his second tournament victory after 2019’s Turkish Airlines Challenge at Samsun in Turkey.
Welcoming that return to form, Syme, ranked 387th in the world, said: “I felt like I played a lot, lot better.
“It’s been a really funny year, with a lot of change, and I’ve struggled with injury a bit as well, but I definitely feel like I’ve turned a bit of a corner.
“It was much better and it was nice to carry that on, though I’ve got my card for next year, so I’ve not got the stress of that.
“I’m just going to keep plugging away and doing my best.
“I don’t know how much golf I’m going to play after this week.”
He carded opening rounds of 66 and 68, followed by ones of 75 and 71 for a four-under-par total of 280, ten shots behind the winning total of 270 recorded by fellow Scot Grant Forrest, earning him prize money of £480,000, more than 27 times the £17,227 reward for finishing 37th.
Syme’s fellow Fifer Calum Hill was also contesting the Spanish Open but missed the cut after rounds of 75 last Thursday and 71 the day after.