In an event with the focus on timing, Connor Syme got his spot on as he gave his rookie season on the European Tour a significant lift with a runners-up finish in the inaugural Shot Clock Masters in Austria.
The 22-year-old Fifer trundled in a raking birdie putt of over 50 feet on the final hole to grab second place on his own behind the runaway winner, Mikko Korhonen.
That effort on the last green was worth upwards of £44,000 to Syme as he pulled away from a pack of four players on nine-under and hauled himself on to a 10-under tally with a closing 69.
His total cheque for almost £97,000 was the biggest of his fledgling career and propelled him from a lowly 206th on the Race to Dubai at the start of the week and into the card-retaining safety zone of 101st.
Having made just three cuts in 13 events on the main circuit this year, things clicked for Syme over an impressive week at the Diamond Country Club and the former Walker Cup player admitted that he had an inkling that he could finish with a flourish. Seeing his colossal putt drop into the cup was still something of a surprise, though.
“I’d been having a good week and I said to my caddie that I felt like I was going to do something really cool near the end,” said Syme, whose best result in 2018 prior to yesterday was a share of 11th in the Tshwane Open.
“I didn’t expect it to drop and it was a serious bonus. You could tell by my reaction how much it meant to me. I knew there were a few guys tied at nine-under.
“It was bunched up and to get out of that pack was a huge bonus. I’ve had a couple of decent results but it’s been a pretty slow start to the European Tour since I gained my card. It could really change my season.”
On a final day disrupted by the odd delay due to the threat of lightning, Korhonen shrugged off the stop-start nature of affairs and cruised to a maiden tour title.
The Finn took a five-shot lead into the final round and eased over the line with 69 for a 16-under aggregate and a six shot win over Syme, with Steve Webster, Nicolas Colsaerts, Justin Walters and Raphael Jacquelin a further stroke back.
Jacquelin reduced Korhonen’s overnight advantage to three shots after four birdies in the first seven holes but the Finn birdied the third before play was suspended for 75 minutes due to the threat of lightning.
The 37-year-old, who needed eight attempts to earn his European Tour card via the qualifying school, picked up further shots on the fifth and sixth when play resumed before carding his first bogey of the week on the ninth.
A birdie on the next quickly settled any nerves and despite another bogey on the 12th following the second stoppage in play, Korhonen was never in danger of being caught.
Syme, meanwhile, had mounted an early surge with birdies on the third, fifth and sixth but his momentum was halted with back-to-back bogeys at the seventh and eighth. A birdie on the 10th got him back on track, though, before the Scot produced that grandstand finish.
During a week in which every player was on the clock, four players, including Scottish younger Grant Forrest, were given one shot penalties for going over the time allowed to hit a shot.
Elsewhere, Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson notched his third top-10 finish on the European Challenge Tour after finishing sixth in the KPMG Trophy in Belgium. His 19-under total left him three off a play-off for the title.
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