David Drysdale handed a place in Final Series

David Drysdale: Final call-up. Picture: Jane Barlow

The 40-year-old from Cockburnspath looked to have missed out by one spot after moving up to 88th in the Race to Dubai following the Hong Kong Open on Sunday. However, the withdrawal of Englishman Eddie Pepperell with an “ongoing back issue” opened up a space for Drysdale to join compatriots Marc Warren, Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher in the £4.6 million event at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal on Thursday.

That caps a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Drysdale, who feared his season may have been over after tearing his right calf muscle getting out of a bunker during the third round of the Italian Open at Monza.

He came home from that event in a wheelchair and was still on crutches ten days before the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

But, thanks to extensive  physiotherapy from Stuart Barton, as well as twice-daily dips in the North Sea at Pease bay, he not only made that event but finished in joint ninth place.

That moved Drysdale into the safety zone on the money list and, following back-to-back top 20s in the Portugal Masters and Hong Kong Open, his season has now been extended by at least one more event when it looked not so long ago that he could be preparing for a first visit to the Qualifying School since 2008.