AS he prepares for the second decade of his professional golf career, York’s world number 45, Simon Dyson, reflected on the moment his terrific 2009 term turned.

Dyson said the tipping-point for him to meteorically ascend the sport’s global rankings was the first of his two European Tour crowns gained this year, the KLM Dutch open at Vandvoort’s Kennemeer Golf and Country Club in August.

He won the KLM crown in a last-day sudden-death play-off as he had in 2006 when it was his second Euro Tour title of the year after breaking his duck with the Indonesian Open several months earlier.

The repeat Dutch show though was the tournament triumph which restored morale to the 31-year-old Malton & Norton GC ace.

Said Dyson: “Winning in Holland was definitely the turning-point for me.

“I’d made several changes to my preparation, especially working more in the gym, and it started to pay off almost straight away in the KLM Open.

“When I won that it made me realise what I had to do to improve my performance. It was definitely a pivotal time for me.”

The title prompted a glorious run for Dyson, culminating in his fourth title – and by far his most prestigious – when he joined the illustrious names on the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship trophy after a quite astounding victory at golf’s spiritual haven, St Andrews in Scotland.

Not only was it the biggest cheque Dyson had won since turning pro in the year 2000, the victory nudged him into the world’s leading 50 players, putting him at a then career-high 42nd in the entire world.

He has since maintained a streak of consistent form, so much that he finished eighth in the Race To Dubai rankings which climaxed with the season-ending World Dubai Championships, in which he finished a creditable joint 23rd and hung on to his highly-cherished top 50 world ranking.

That means he will satisfy his lifelong ambition of playing in next year’s US Masters championship at its fabled Augusta headquarters. Indeed, he could actually figure in all four Majors throughout 2010 when he will seek to widen his experience of the exacting American playing circuit.

“The thought of me playing in the Masters has got me buzzing already. I’ve got a lot of family and friends coming out so it’s going to be a brilliant experience,” declared Dyson.

“To think I started out this year around 150th and finished as 45 then the hard work has certainly done the trick.”

He added: “I always thought I had it in me to be a player in the top 50 and I’ve done that.

“The next job was staying in the top 50 and I’ve done that, so it’s been an absolutely fantastic year.”