Connor Syme hoping to add to Australian Amateur success on latest trip Down Under

Connor Syme has already enjoyed some amateur dramatics in Australia and now he’s hoping to pick up a professional prize on his latest trip Down Under.

The 28-year-old is joining three of his compatriots – Bob MacIntyre, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill – in making the journey to Oz for a double-header there at the start of the 2024 DP World Tour campaign.

The Fortinet Australian PGA Championship gets underway on Thursday at Royal Queensland in Brisbane before the ISPS Handa Australian Open takes place next week at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.

The trip will bring back good memories for Syme after he was crowned as the Australian Amateur champion in 2016, beating home player Travis Smyth 3&2 after an epic final at Yarra Yarra Golf Club.

Connor Syme walks with his caddie, Ryan McGuigan, on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates during the DP World Tour Championship. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

“Exactly,” said the Drumoig-based player of that being something he’ll try and feed off as he makes his latest trip. “Having had good experiences down there is probably a factor for me going, as is the fact that Alanis (his girlfriend) can come with me. If she was working, that wouldn’t be possible. But, with not having kids or anything like that, we have this opportunity to go there and experience it all a bit and that’s exciting.”

Syme was speaking after he’d signed off his 2023 campaign with a one-under-par 71 to finish just outside the top 40 in the season ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“Frustrating on the greens, to be honest,” he said, assessing his week, which ended with him sitting on three-under-par at Jumeirah Golf Estates. “Just never got a good run going, unfortunately.

“But, overall, I feel I’ve played okay, albeit a little bit scrappy in some areas. Yes, holing more putts would have made a big difference to the week.”

Syme, who finished 48th in the Race to Dubai Rankings after dropping three spots in the season-ending Rolex Series event in the United Arab Emirates, laughed about the fact the new season starts straight after the old one finished and joked: “Yeah, and we are losing a day in terms of travel as well to Australia!”