Knock knock. Who’s there? Why, it’s Connor Syme chapping on the door of a maiden DP World Tour victory. Or is it someone flogging household sundries? No, it’s definitely Connor Syme.
Keep rattling hard enough and you’ll eventually make a breakthrough and Syme is hoping that will be the case for him after back-to-back second place finishes on the main circuit in recent weeks.
The 27-year-old Fifer’s purple patch may not have brought the ultimate reward of a tour title but it’s been a purposeful, profitable spell which has earned him over £270,000 in a couple of weeks. Even his pet dog, Lola, is feeling the benefits. “I went to Pets at Home and got her a nice new bed and various things,” said Syme. “Even the woman in the shop said the dog was spoiled.”
Becoming a top dog on the DP World Tour, meanwhile, is no easy task. After a tie for second in the Cazoo Open in Wales and a runners-up finish behind his good friend and fellow Scot, Ewen Ferguson, in the ISPS Handa World Invitational last weekend in Northern Ireland, Syme now has three second place finishes to his name on the old European circuit.
Oliver Wilson, the former Ryder Cup player, was a runner-up nine times before he got to savour his first tour victory at the 228th attempt during the 2014 Dunhill Links Championship. In this game, you never know when it will be your week.
“All I can do is keep putting myself in this kind of position and the last couple of weeks have been very promising,” said Syme, who has vaulted up to 21st on the tour’s rankings and is well on course for a spot in the season-ending, big-money bonanza in Dubai. “This little spell has made me hungrier for more.”
In this pursuit of tiny margins, the search for that special something that separates the best from the rest can make the quest for the Holy Grail look like a quick guddle on the shelves of the corner shop.
It’s a complex business but the canny guidance and knowledge of Syme’s coach and dad, Stuart, continues to uncover areas of improvement that can make all the difference at this level.
“He noticed how I was playing shots from the rough,” added Syme of his faither’s keen eye. “It’s little things but judging how a shot might come out of the rough has made a big difference. We’ve been doing a lot more work on that side of things and it’s about turning a potential bogey into a par or birdie if I’m out of position. Rolling three shots into two makes a big difference over a week.
"My short game and putting are much better now too. At this level, those areas need to be so sharp all the time. There are so many parts to golf but when you get them all working you get the rewards.
“The working relationship between dad and myself has been more structured this year too. There were times before when I could’ve said, ‘sorry dad, I’m running a bit late’ and because he’s my dad it was easier to get away with that. So, we both made the decision to be more disciplined and more business-like. We always worked well but now we’re working properly and that’s had a big benefit.”
Having made the pro plunge in 2017 after a fine amateur career, Syme fast-tracked his way to the main tour through the qualifying school. He just failed to hold on to his full card during his rookie season but earned his stripes again with a battling campaign on the second-tier Challenge Tour which brought promotion back to the top table.
“The Challenge Tour was essential to my development,” admitted Syme of his stint at that uncompromising coal face. “I won my first event of the season on it but still just held on to one of the promotion places. It was a hard year but it set me up for tour life again. The results I’ve had recently have been helped by those experiences on the Challenge Tour.”
Enjoying the experiences of winning that his mucker, Ferguson, has savoured this season is next on the to do list.
“We’ve always kept pushing each other on,” Syme said of this healthy, friendly rivalry. “Hopefully, my turn to win comes soon.”
