Connor Syme is delighted to have carried momentum into the opening event of the 2024 Race to Dubai during the opening round of the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.
The Scotsman carded a five under par 66 to sit just three strokes behind early leader Joel Moscatel Nachshon after the first round.
After making the turn level with two birdies and two bogeys, his birdie at the 18th, his ninth hole, was his first of six gains in seven holes as he came back in 31 strokes to finish five under.
Last season, Syme finished a career-high 28th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, thanks in part to a later summer up-turn in form.
The 28-year-old was a model of consistency throughout the 2023 Race to Dubai as he missed just five cuts from 27 starts, with his joint fourth-placed finish at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics kick-starting a run which saw him finish no lower than tenth on his next three starts.
His best result of the season came at the Omega European Masters, where he finished in a share of third, followed by a tied seventh result at the Horizon Irish Open and a tenth-place at the BMW PGA Championship.
“I think I was playing decently well but just nothing spectacular really until that point and obviously you find yourself where you are and the Race to Dubai, it was kind of tough at that point trying to re-turn on the focus and I managed to do that,” he added. “My goal at that point was to try and make it to Dubai and with that run in September I’d almost kind of done that. It just shows you how quickly things can turn around in this game.
“You can feel like you’re going against the tide a little bit for a while and then, all of a sudden, you can just have something click and you can get a good run going. It was nice to do that in September and I feel like my game’s in a pretty good place.”
Syme is no stranger to success Down Under as he claimed his biggest victory before joining the paid ranks at the 2016 Australian Amateur, defeating Travis Smyth 3&2 at The Metropolitan in Melbourne.
“It’s brilliant to be back,” he said. “We don’t get to do this often or the opportunity doesn’t come around as much as probably we would like. It’s so cool to be back and obviously some good memories from down here, for sure.
“It’s a great mix of obviously guys I’ve known for a long time, playing amateur golf with and some world superstars and stuff as well. It’s brilliant to be down here playing against them all.”
