THERE’S no halting the Simon Dyson juggernaut as his propulsion into the world’s leading 50 players also advanced him to a fantastic fortnight in America.
Within hours of his momentous Irish Open victory – his fifth European Tour championship – the 33-year-old Dyson was jetting to America.
He was basking in the knowledge that his victory had rocketed him no fewer than 19 places to 48th position in the world rankings. That is only five short of his best career placing which he held in the global rankings two years ago.
His dominance of the Irish Open field qualified him for the lucrative Bridgestone Invitational – part of the World Golf Championship series – at the Firestone Country Club in Akron in Ohio.
After that tournament, in which there is no midway cut, the Malton & Norton GC ace heads to the USPGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia, the last major of the season, and to which he had already gained entry after he posted a creditable 12th-place finish last year.
After a startling past month in which his Irish Open conquest was preceded by the distinction of being the highest-placed English player for his tied ninth place in The Open at Royal St Georges, Dyson’s target now will be to stay among the top 50 players.
He described his four days in Killarney as “the best” he had ever played, so if he continues his upward swing and holds on to that exalted position, or indeed improves on it until the end of the year, then he will be automatically entered into all four 2012 majors.
Dyson, whose £210,000 first prize for winning the Irish Open, took his season’s earnings to more than £780,000 and nudged his career earnings to just beyond the £6 million barrier, last achieved that feat two years ago.
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