Syme and Howie emerge from shutdown in style
Winner Marc Warren was joined by two of his compatriots, Connor Syme and Craig Howie, in coming out of lockdown on a positive note in the Austrian Open, writes Martin Dempster.
The duo finished in a tie for fourth at Diamond Country Club, near Vienna, to make it a successful restart for Scottish players following a four-month Covid shutdown.
Syme’s effort lifted him up six spots to 55th in the Race to Dubai rankings, having now recorded four top-15 finishes in eight starts this season.
He’d claimed a share of second spot in the Shot Clock Masters at the same venue in his rookie campaign two seasons ago and was delighted with a late flourish on this occasion.
The Fifer, pictured right, who turned 25 on Saturday, had been in the top ten all week before dropping three shots in five holes straight after the turn in the final round. But, showing the mark of a good player, he bounced back to birdie three of the last four holes to end up just three shots behind Warren on 10-under.
“It was a weird day, with nothing getting going at all, really,” said Syme. “It just wasn’t going my way, so it was nice to finish strongly and turn what looked as though it might have been a finish in 17th or so into a top five, which is obviously big.”
The former Australian Amateur champion started his rookie campaign with four successive missed cuts before finding his feet and almost hanging on to his card.
Two years on, he is looking very much at home on the main tour, having now carded 20 sub-par rounds in 28 circuits. “I holed some nice putts at the end, which is positive to end the week, and I was happy how I kept going rather than letting my head fall. It was good to stay positive,” added Syme.
Syme drove from London to play in the event and is now heading home again, having decided not to stay on for the second leg of an Austrian double-header in this week’s Euram Bank Open. Instead, he will be getting himself ready for next week’s Betfred British Masters at Close House, which marks the start of a new six-event UK Swing on the European Tour.
Howie, pictured above, was equally pleased with his performance in the event, having jumped 11 spots to eighth in the Challenge Tour rankings through it being a co-sanctioned tournament with the second-tier circuit.
The 25-year-old started and finished with bogeyfree rounds as he took up where he’d left when making a promising start to the campaign in South Africa earlier in the year.
“I’m pretty pleased,” said the Peebles man. “I played better in the last round than I did the first three days. I was solid tee to green in the last round and never looked like making a bogey, which was pleasing. I actually hit a few golf shots in the final round whereas I was chipping it around on Saturday and, if you were in that rough, you were just slashing at it.”
Howie is staying on for the Euram Bank Open in Ramsau, where the field is also set to include Ewen Ferguson, Scott Henry, Craig Ross and Chris Robb.