ITCHING to resume the European Tour, York’s top golfer Simon Dyson opens the first of three lucrative tournaments on Thursday.

Dyson is part of a strong European contingent in the Maybank Malaysian Open, which is hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

It prefaces the Volvo China Open next week and then the newly named Championship at Laguna National in Singapore from May 1 to May 4.

The trio of consecutive tournaments total more than $5 million in prize money and more importantly for the 36-year-old Dyson carry valuable world ranking points.

Out of action since the flaring up of back trouble on the opening two holes of the NH Collection event in Spain last month, forcing his withdrawal after just two holes, and then sitting out the first major of the season, the US Masters, Dyson is keen to get back into the groove.

His inactivity has seen him drop to 181st position in the latest world rankings.

The Malton & Norton GC ace is presently 54th in the Race To Dubai standings. The top 64 qualify for the lucrative end-of-season European Tour climax.