IT’S Scotland wha-hay for York’s Simon Dyson as he bids to conjure another iron brew of north of the border triumph.

Dyson today started the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – one of his favourite on the tour and not simply because two years ago he held aloft the coveted trophy on the famous Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews.

For the world number 30 the event, which uniquely features rounds on three courses – St Andrews’ old course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, before a Sunday showdown back at the St Andrews myth-laden home of the game – offers a challenge which he revels in.

The North Yorkshire ace, who followed up his Dunhill conquest in 2009 with a creditable fifth place last year, said: “Usually in a tournament, if you make the cut, you have four rounds, plus you may play in the pro-am event, and also have say a practice of half a round.

“That could mean something like 99 holes of golf on the same course which can get a bit monotonous.

“But with this event having to test yourself over three days on the different courses, there’s a lot of variety and I like that. It’s good to have a different challenge over the whole tournament and I think that’s helped me to be successful there.”

The 33-year-old Dyson still warms to the memory of two years ago when he spread-eagled a star-studded field to hold a clear advantage over the concluding holes at St Andrews.

“I was playing alongside Darren Clarke and he said to ‘take it all in as it does not get much better than that’. I mean, walking down the last fairway at St Andrews knowing I was about to win one of the Europe’s leading tournaments will always stay with me.”

That triumph was Dyson’s fourth European Tour title, a total which has since swelled to six with resounding victories over the last two months in the Irish Open and the KLM Open, the latter an event he has now won three times to join just two other players to achieve that feat – Bernhard Langer and the late, great Seve Ballesteros.

Major players line up alongside York ace

TWO major champions will be among Simon Dyson’s professional partners in the Alfred Dunhill Links championship.

Dyson was one of the early starters of today’s first round alongside Northern Ireland’s 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell at the Kingsbarns course. The York-born ace and G-Mac, who are friends on the European Tour, will start on the tenth hole.

The tenth is again the start for Dyson in the second round at Carnoustie, where he will be in tandem with fellow professional Mark Brown, from New Zealand.

Then in the third round at St Andrews – hopefully leading to the top 64 back at the Old Course at the home of golf on Sunday for the final decisive round – Dyson will play alongside Germany’s world number six Martin Kaymer, last year’s US PGA champion.

That will mean the last two holders of the Dunhill trophy will be in direct opposition with the German winning last year to follow on from Dyson’s triumph in 2009.