Connor Syme begins European Tour season after Omega Dubai Desert Classic invite

The Drumoig 25-year-old had expected to sit out his second tour event in a row despite last season finishing a career best 65th in the Race to Dubai rankings.

His performances on the UK Swing’s mini order of merit, after play was allowed to resume in the summer, also saw him win a place at the US Open at Winged Foot.

But, despite his excellent performances and points total, standings from last term are null and void from the start of this campaign due to the previous season being shortened by the pandemic.

Starting with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championships, fields are determined by 2020 categories, meaning Connor is 13th on the list among the 2019 Challenge Tour graduates.

There was positive news over the weekend for the Drumoig pro, though, who was presented with the opportunity to compete thanks to the tour’s ‘exceptional performance’ category.

These spots are available for players on the European and Challenge Tour who would otherwise miss out because of the freezing of categories.

Joining Connor in the field this week are fellow Scots, two-time winner Stephen Gallacher, Bob MacIntyre, David Law, Richie Ramsay, Scott Jamieson, David Drysdale and Grant Forrest.

Ironically, Calum Hill, who did play in last weekend’s season opener, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, misses out on the second event.

Calum, from Kinross, got his new European Tour season off to a positive start, making it through to the weekend at the high class tournament, which was won by England’s Tyrrell Hatton.

Rounds of 72, 72, 73 and 70 helped Calum finish in a tie for 46th place and won him €30,643.30.

Following this week’s event the tour heads to Saudi Arabia and the Saudi International.

At the time of writing, both Calum and Connor were sitting below the cut off position for the event.

Some of the world’s leading golfers, including the likes of Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia are all lined up to compete.