Personal Information
Dyson was born December 21, 1977, in York, England. He stands 6 feet tall and weighs 168 pounds. Sports are a common thread in Dyson's family, and he has had success in other sports. As a teenager, Dyson played on football (soccer) teams for York City and Scarborough, and he also was a strong tennis player. He credits his older brother, Nick, with encouraging him to play golf, and Dyson became a scratch golfer by the time he was 16 years old.
Amateur Career
Before Dyson broke into the professional ranks, he had a successful amateur golf career. He finished in second place in the 1999 English Amateur, losing to winner Paul Casey, but won the Finnish Amateur title. The same year, he was part of the winning Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team. In September 1999, shortly after the Walker Cup, Dyson turned professional.
Asian Tour
During the 2000 season, his first as a professional, Dyson carded three victories on the Asian Tour. Those events were: the Macau Open, the Volvo China Open and the Omega Hong Kong Open. Those victories, combined with two second-place finishes and a total of eight top-10 finishes, netted him more than $282,000. He also topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit and was named the tour's Rookie of the Year. While he continued to play Asian Tour events after the 2000 season, his focus shifted to the European Tour.
European Tour
His European Tour career began in 2002, but Dyson didn't score a tour victory until 2006. That year, he won twice--the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open, which was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, and the KLM Open. He scored a 20-under-par, two-stroke victory at the Enjoy Jakarta event, and a 14-under-par victory at the KLM Open. In winning that event, Dyson beat Australian golfer Richard Green in a sudden-death playoff. He also placed in the top 10 five times that season.
Major Championships
Dyson competed in his first major championship, the 2000 British Open, in his first year playing as a professional. He missed the cut that year and in 2001, did not play in 2002 or 2003, missed the cut in 2004, and then carded ties for 34th place and 48th place in 2005 and 2006, respectively. He again missed the cut in 2008. The highlight of his major championship career was in 2007, when he finished in a tie for sixth place at the PGA Championship and won $227,500. He finished at even par thanks to a final-round score of 64, which was seven stokes better than his best score during the first three rounds, when he shot 73, 71 and 72, respectively.
About The Author
Larry Anderson has been a freelance writer since 2000. He has covered a wide variety of topics, from golf and baseball to hunting and fishing. His work has appeared in numerous print and online publications, including "Fargo Forum" newspaper. Anderson holds a Bachelor of Arts in print journalism from Concordia College.
