MIDDLE Eastern treasure is the target for North Yorkshire man of irons Simon Dyson.

The 30-year-old makes his first appearance on the European Golf Tour in 2008 when he tackles the $2 million Abu Dhabi Championships in the United Arab Emirates tomorrow.

After impressing in the opening events of the European Tour at the back end of last year, Dyson inched up to 64, his highest placing in the world rankings.

If the global ratings stayed as they were at that point, then Dyson would have been designated for a clash against world number one Tiger Woods in the first World Golf Championship event to be held at The Gallery, in Tucson, next month.

But other events played during Dyson's three-week festive break have seen the Malton and Norton ace dip to 68, so he knows he needs to hit the greens and fairways running when the Abu Dhabi event swings into action.

With a winner's cheque topping £171,000 over the next four days in the UAE, Dyson is determined to relaunch his bid to make the top 64 and thereby gain an automatic place on the year's series of World Golf Championships, the opener being the $8 million event in Tucson, Arizona from February 20 to 24.

Dyson's ambition is loftier than just the top 64, however. He is striving this year - his eighth as a tour professional during which he has totalled more than £2,770,000 in prize money - to reach the world's leading 50 players, thereby gaining automatic qualification for all the four Majors.

To assist that drive Dyson is opting for quality, not quantity.

He said he was going to whittle down the number of tournament appearances he makes this coming season in a bid to avoid burn-out which affected his form during the mid-point of last season's European Tour.

Said Dyson: "I played 36 tournaments last year all over the place, so this year I'm aiming to play something like 27. That's cutting it down by about a quarter, but with all the travelling included as well, I think that's what I need to do to keep myself fresh. I want to make sure I am better prepared for the big ones."

As well as finishing last season on a high with joint second place in the Volvo Masters, Dyson's momentous 2007 included the distinction of being the leading European player with a joint sixth finish in the USPGA.