First reserve Connor gets off to a front-nine flyer at Oman Open

Connor Syme took full advantage of his late entry into the Oman Open.

The Drumoig professional flew out for the event as first reserve in the hope that somebody would drop out.

That happened and he raced to four under on his first-round front nine.

Two shots were dropped on the back nine but a two-under-par total left him joint 15th and four off the lead, held by American Kurt Kitayama.

Kitayama, who came through all three stages of the qualifying school in 2018 and won on just his third European Tour start in Mauritius in December, recorded four birdies and an eagle in a flawless opening 66 at Al Mouj Golf.

That gave the world number 206 a one-shot lead over Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Japan’s Yusaku Miyazato, with former Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters and England’s David Horsey part of a seven-strong group on four under.

Defending champion Joost Luiten was a shot further back after a 69, with last year’s runner-up Chris Wood on level par in his first start of 2019 following an injury lay-off.

“I’m delighted with that,” Kitayama said. “Conditions were pretty tough so to be bogeyfree was really good. My putting was great, I had great speed. I made a few putts outside 10 feet so that was really nice.

“I have a few more opportunities to play after my win.

“It makes it easier to plan my schedule but it’s my first year and I want to see most of the courses to plan for next year.

“I can understand why the guys rave about this golf course. It’s in great shape and it doesn’t get much purer than this.”

Jamieson also did not drop a single shot and birdied four of his last seven holes as he looks to bounce back from missing the cut in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

“Being bogey-free is always good, so a lovely start,” Jamieson said. “I drove it well and putted well.

“It’s difficult to hit it close here, the greens are firm and there’s a lot of run-offs around the green so you’re playing away from the flags.

“I was able to hole a couple of nice putts and had a chip-in on 17 as well, which is always a bonus. I didn’t feel like I played particularly well but my game plan was good and scoring well allowed me to shoot a low score.”

In his first round on the European Tour since April 2018, former Open champion Paul Lawrie carded an opening 71 as he returned after a lengthy injury lay-off.

Richie Ramsay and David Drysdale joined Syme on two under.