By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Exclusive: Scotland's latest DP World Tour golf champion opens up on win - and causing dad more recovery grief.
Scot praised by his caddie and fellow Dundee resident for keeping calm head in KLM Open
When
you are recovering from a triple hernia operation, it might not be the
best time to be jumping about a bit more than you probably should be,
but Stuart Syme can surely be forgiven.
It’s
not every day, after all, when you get to experience the joy and
![]()
pleasure of seeing the person you’ve introduced to golf as a youngster
then taught for so long landing what will be one of the most popular
wins in the sport in 2025.
Connor Syme wouldn’t have been crowned as the KLM Open champion
on Sunday, landing his breakthrough win on the DP World Tour in the
process and becoming the 11th first-time champion on the circuit this
season, if it hadn’t been for his old man.
A promising player himself when he was coming through the ranks at
Ladybank, Syme snr was the PGA professional at Dumfries & County
Golf Club when Connor took up the game and, once his son had got hopes
of becoming a footballer out of his system, golf then became his main
focus.
Connor Syme shows off the trophy after winning the KLM Open on Sunday at The International Golf Club in the Netherlands | Tom Dulat/Getty Images
Under
his dad’s guidance as a coach after the family had moved back to Fife
when Stuart took up ownership of Drumoig Golf Centre, Syme won the 2016
Australian Amateur Championship before then landing a first success in
the professional ranks in the Turkish Airlines Challenge in 2019.
Since
last year, Syme has also been working with Jamie Gough, the Fife-based
brother of former Scotland and Rangers defender Richard, but there was
absolutely no denying who was probably the happiest man in the world on
Sunday afternoon.
“I had a brief chat with my dad before I went in to see the volunteers,” Syme told The Scotsman
as he reflected on his brilliant breakthrough win on the main tour
after landing a two-shot success at The International in Amsterdam. “He
was absolutely buzzing as he’s obviously been with me since the start of
my golf career and taught me the game.
“He’s
had a triple hernia operation and I was saying to him that I hope
you’ve not caused any damage, but he said that he was jumping up and
down more than he probably should have been (laughing). It is so cool.”
Over
the past few years, Syme had seen Bob MacIntyre, David Law, Ewen
Ferguson, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill all land maiden DP World Tour
title triumphs while seeing some good opportunities to do likewise -
he’d held a 54-hole lead on three previous occasions - agonisingly slip
from his grasp.
At no point, however, did that look as though it was going to happen
again after the 29-year-old hit the front in tough conditions in the
Netherlands with a brilliant bogey-free 66 in Saturday’s third round
then signed off with a rock-solid 70 that contained just one dropped
shot to win by two shots.
“I
felt really calm for the most part,” admitted Syme of his polished
performance on the last day. “Obviously there was a lot of nervous
energy about, but I was quite pleased how I was able to put that into
the right areas, I suppose, and just focus on the task at hand.
“I
definitely felt different this time than when I had been in contention
in the past. Probably more like Wales when I first had a really good
opportunity to win back in 2020 (in the Celtic Classic. I thought I was
going to win there and obviously I didn’t.
“To
have felt those emotions then, I was very cautious that it could happen
again and things could all change so quickly. So, every time I found
myself thinking about potentially winning on this occasion and what it
could feel like, I kept reminding myself of that.
When
you are recovering from a triple hernia operation, it might not be the
best time to be jumping about a bit more than you probably should be,
but Stuart Syme can surely be forgiven.
It’s
not every day, after all, when you get to experience the joy and
pleasure of seeing the person you’ve introduced to golf as a youngster
then taught for so long landing what will be one of the most popular
wins in the sport in 2025.
Connor Syme wouldn’t have been crowned as the KLM Open champion
on Sunday, landing his breakthrough win on the DP World Tour in the
process and becoming the 11th first-time champion on the circuit this
season, if it hadn’t been for his old man.
A promising player himself when he was coming through the ranks at
Ladybank, Syme snr was the PGA professional at Dumfries & County
Golf Club when Connor took up the game and, once his son had got hopes
of becoming a footballer out of his system, golf then became his main
focus.
Connor Syme shows off the trophy after winning the KLM Open on Sunday at The International Golf Club in the Netherlands | Tom Dulat/Getty Images
Under
his dad’s guidance as a coach after the family had moved back to Fife
when Stuart took up ownership of Drumoig Golf Centre, Syme won the 2016
Australian Amateur Championship before then landing a first success in
the professional ranks in the Turkish Airlines Challenge in 2019.
Since
last year, Syme has also been working with Jamie Gough, the Fife-based
brother of former Scotland and Rangers defender Richard, but there was
absolutely no denying who was probably the happiest man in the world on
Sunday afternoon.
“I had a brief chat with my dad before I went in to see the volunteers,” Syme told The Scotsman
as he reflected on his brilliant breakthrough win on the main tour
after landing a two-shot success at The International in Amsterdam. “He
was absolutely buzzing as he’s obviously been with me since the start of
my golf career and taught me the game.
“He’s
had a triple hernia operation and I was saying to him that I hope
you’ve not caused any damage, but he said that he was jumping up and
down more than he probably should have been (laughing). It is so cool.”
Over
the past few years, Syme had seen Bob MacIntyre, David Law, Ewen
Ferguson, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill all land maiden DP World Tour
title triumphs while seeing some good opportunities to do likewise -
he’d held a 54-hole lead on three previous occasions - agonisingly slip
from his grasp.
At no point, however, did that look as though it was going to happen
again after the 29-year-old hit the front in tough conditions in the
Netherlands with a brilliant bogey-free 66 in Saturday’s third round
then signed off with a rock-solid 70 that contained just one dropped
shot to win by two shots.
“I
felt really calm for the most part,” admitted Syme of his polished
performance on the last day. “Obviously there was a lot of nervous
energy about, but I was quite pleased how I was able to put that into
the right areas, I suppose, and just focus on the task at hand.
“I
definitely felt different this time than when I had been in contention
in the past. Probably more like Wales when I first had a really good
opportunity to win back in 2020 (in the Celtic Classic. I thought I was
going to win there and obviously I didn’t.
“To
have felt those emotions then, I was very cautious that it could happen
again and things could all change so quickly. So, every time I found
myself thinking about potentially winning on this occasion and what it
could feel like, I kept reminding myself of that.
