NORTH Yorkshire's leading golfer Simon Dyson will take the high road to Scotland this week with pockets full of Dane gold.

Dyson finished an admirable second to fellow Englishman Matthew Morris in the Nykredit Danish Open - a runner-up spot that earned the Malton and Norton Golf Club ace just over £10,000 in prize money.

But more significantly, it nudged Dyson, who was runner-up in last month's prestigious BMW Asian Open in China, ever closer to the money mark needed to regain his card for the European Tour, which he so narrowly lost last winter.

Dyson is back on the European Tour trail this week when he journeys north of the border to play in the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles on Thursday.

Ahead of that tournament, Dyson presently lies in 59th place in the European Volvo Order of Merit after tournament earnings so far this year of just shy of £110,000.

Said the 26-year-old king of clubs: "I am happy with how I have played this week and can now go to Gleneagles with a lot of confidence."

In the Nykredit event Dyson battled strongly against Birmingham's Morris, who led the tournament from start to finish, the duo trading birdies and bogeys in yesterday's last round.

Both shot a last day one-over-par 72, but that gave Morris the edge by three shots after three earlier rounds of 67 68 and 68 as opposed to Dyson's 72 65 and 69.

As the rivals neared the Esbjerg Golf Club club-house for the last time, Dyson picked up a shot on 16 to put him within two of the leader with two holes left, but as nerves hit home both bogeyed the penultimate hole leaving Morris to safely negotiate the par-three 18th.

Updated: 10:33 Monday, June 07, 2004