Connor Syme choked back the tears after landing his maiden DP World Tour win with a superb success in the KLM Open, admitting it felt “unreal” to add his name to a trophy that was lifted three times by the legendary Seve Ballesteros and also by some other big names. At the end of a four-day fight in arguably the toughest conditions of the season at The International in Amsterdam, Syme emerged a worthy winner in the 105th edition of the event after the 29-year-old dropped just a single shot in the final 36 holes. Producing a brilliant last-day performance in his quest to make the breakthrough after seeing three previous opportunities slip from his grasp when holding a 54-hole lead, Syme had the luxury of holding a four-shot lead over his closest challenger, Swede Joakim Lagergren, standing on the 18th tee. Lagergren, with a victory on the main tour already under his belt, did his best to try and make it an uncomfortable last hole for the Scot rather than a victory procession when he almost holed his second for an albatross then rolled in an eagle putt. However, Syme wasn’t going to be denied on this occasion and, not for the first time in the round, he showed great composure with every single shot as a closing par meant it was mission accomplished, signing off with a 70 for an impressive 11-under-par total. Helped by a hole in one at the seventh, Ewen Ferguson finished in a share of fourth spot alongside Richie Ramsay to make it a great event for the Scots, with Syme taking pride of place as he got the win he’d been looking for in his 182nd DP World Tour start. “Unbelievable, unbelievable,” said the Drumoig-based player, speaking on Sky Sports Golf, as he savoured a success worth around £340,000. “It was so, so difficult,” he added of the conditions, which turned nasty again as the final group played the last few holes. “I just felt so much better this week and ready to do it and I am just so, so happy that I managed to do it.” Syme became the seventh Scot to land this title, joining Jimmy Adams (1949), Brian Barnes (1974), Ken Brown (1983), Gordon Brand jnr (1987), Stephen McAllister (1990) and Colin Montgomerie (1993). In addition to Ballesteros, other past champions include Bernhard Langer, Payne Stewart, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia. “Unreal,” admitted the new winner as he gazed at the trophy. “There are some amazing names on this!” Syme’s wife, Alanis, who had flown in without him knowing to catch the final day, rushed on the 18th green after the winning putt had been holed before he was showered in champagne by three-time tour champion Ferguson and Englishman Richard Mansell, a first-time winner himself earlier in the year and, like Ferguson, one of Syme’s Modest! Golf stablemates. There, too, to congratulate the circuit’s newest champion was Calum Hill, who was effectively repaying Syme after he’d jumped on his back on the 18th green after winning the Joburg Open earlier this season. “It is so nice they stuck around,” admitted Syme, who was also greeted coming off the green by Dutch football legend and the event’s co-tournament director Ruud Gullit, having jumped 71 spots to 18th in the Race to Dubai Rankings. “Yeah, obviously I’ve been really pleased for them and now I am really happy I have done it myself. Just amazing.” A former Australian Amateur champion, Syme won the Turkish Airlines Challenge in 2019, helping him secure a graduation to the DP World Tour. He’d racked up three second-place finishes on the main tour, finished fourth on three other occasions and recorded 18 top-ten finishes as well. It was a win he was after, though, and it has come in his first season since starting to work on the road with Jamie Gough, who also coaches Ferguson, while still working at home with his dad Stuart, a PGA professional who owns and runs Drumoig Golf Centre. “Every part of my team is so important and when I was playing different shots today I felt as though I was playing them as a kid,” declared Syme, who has been managed by Niall Horan’s Modest! Golf since turning professional in 2017. “Yeah, everyone helped so much and I am so happy to have done it with Ryan [McGuigan] on the bag as well. Honestly, I am overjoyed.” As was Ferguson about his hole in one, which came at the seventh with a 4-iron from 190 yards. “It was a tough hole and I was thinking a 3 would be good after making a birdie on the hole before,” he said afterwards. “I tried to hold up a 4-iron from 190 into a bit of a gale and it rolled in after one bounce. “It’s my first one in tournament play - I’ve had three others, but they’ve been in practice rounds - so it’s a good feeling. But it puts pressure on you as you are thinking for the next few holes ‘don’t mess up now’.” The 28-year-old’s prize is 750 stroopwaffles - a Dutch delicacy that was on offer to mark this year being Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary celebration - that will be shipped to Scotland. “They’ll be sent to my mum and dad’s house and we will be having a stroopwaffle party at some point,” he declared, laughing. On his return to action after being “floored” by a virus in recent weeks, Ramsay birdied the last, which was worth around £47,000. The Aberdonian jumped 31 spots to 51st in the rankings, with Ferguson up to 26th from 35th after recording a second successive top-five finish following a tie for second in the Soudal Open in Belgium. Sign up to The Scotsman’s weekly golf newsletter to get unrivalled news and analysis - subscribe for free here.