Fife golfers Calum Hill and Connor Syme still targeting making it to 153rd Open in Northern Ireland
Fife golfers Calum Hill and Connor Syme both remain hopeful of making it to the 153rd Open in Northern Ireland next month despite missing out on the two places up for grabs at the Italian Open in Tuscany at the weekend.
Hill, still waiting for his Claret Jug debut, was just two shots short of booking a spot at the Royal Portrush Golf Club-hosted competition come Thursday, July 17.
The two Open places on offer in Italy went to France’s Adrien Saddier and Martin Couvra, the former notching up his first DP World Tour win at the age of 33 with a 14-under-par total of 266 and his countryman finishing as runner-up with 268.
Kirkcaldy-born Hill, 30, went bogey-free over the weekend to finish joint-third with West Yorkshire’s Dan Bradbury on ten-under-par totals of 270, just missing out on qualification for the season’s final major in County Antrim.
His best score of the day of 64 on Saturday at Argentario Golf Club and follow-up 68 on Sunday keep him in contention for a place at the Open, however.
The top five players not otherwise exempt in the Race to Dubai Rankings after this week’s BMW International Open in Munich in Germany will qualify for the Open and Hill’s Italian job at the weekend moved him nine places up that leaderboard to 22nd, meaning that if he keeps up that kind of form at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried, he could yet be in line to make his debut in the game’s oldest major.
“Friday was not a great day, with making a few errors, but the rest was really positive,” said Hill, attached to Gleneagles Hotel in Perth and Kinross.
“There were lots of positive signs on the greens and lots of positives as regards to ball-striking. I’m very happy.”
Drumoig’s Syme, winner of the KLM Open in the Netherlands at the start of June, has dropped three places to 24th in the Race to Dubai standings after being forced to pull out of the Italian Open by a family bereavement.
Both Hill and Syme, respectively ranked 159th and 153rd in the world, are lined up to contest the BMW International Open, with the five highest-placed not-already-exempt DP World Tour members and any tying for fifth place in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai rankings earning Open spots and three more available at the Genesis Scottish Open at North Berwick the following weekend.
Syme is hoping to make it to a fourth Open after previous appearances in 2017, 2019 and 2023, saying: “I’d love to go back and play and try and test my game against the best in the world.
“On the back of a win, it would feel really cool to do so.
“My goal was obviously to try and get into the majors first and foremost. To try and play them on a regular basis would be brilliant.
“Winning the KLM Open felt like a big hurdle for me and hopefully I can kick on from there.”
Exempt for the DP World Tour through to the end of the 2027 season, the 29-year-old is also targeting dual membership by claiming one of ten Professional Golfers’ Association Tour cards on offer via the Race to Dubai.