The only way is up, says Dyson as he returns from ban

Malton and Norton golfer Dyson was joint second after 36 holes of the BMW Masters in October when he was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score in the second round.

The 36-year-old failed to add a two-shot penalty to his card after an incident on the eighth hole at Lake Malaren when he touched the line of his putt after marking his ball, using the ball to flatten a spike mark.

Having reviewed the incident after being alerted to it by television viewers, European Tour officials charged Dyson with a serious breach of the Tour’s code of behaviour.

That charge was then upheld when he appeared before a disciplinary panel at Wentworth in December.

The panel, chaired by Ian Mill QC and comprising European Senior Tour player Gordon Brand Jnr and League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan, found that Dyson deliberately pressed down the spike mark to improve his position, despite knowing it was against the rules.

However, in a somewhat contradictory statement, Dyson was cleared of “a premeditated act of cheating” and given a two-month ban, suspended for 18 months, fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 towards the Tour’s costs.

Asked ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship if he had been through the lowest point of his career, Dyson said: “Yeah, massively. I don’t think you can get any worse really.

“The last two years I’ve not really enjoyed my golf and then to have it all topped off by that was... pretty low. There’s only way it can go now, hopefully.”

One fellow professional said that he would prefer not to be paired with Dyson in Abu Dhabi, but the Yorkshireman insisted he had been well received so far.

“It’s been really nice actually,” Dyson added. “It’s made me realise how much I do love the game. I fell out of love with the game the last couple of years a little bit and it’s just nice to be back and playing and be amongst everyone again.

“I’ve had so much support from people who know me and they know that’s not what I’m like. The support has been unbelievable. Everyone’s just getting on with it.

“What’s in the past is in the past and I can’t do anything about it. That’s the way I’ve looked at it since the day of the hearing really. As soon as it was over it was over. Me and my wife back home haven’t spoken about it. I can just get on with it and am looking forward to starting afresh now.

“I’ve never done it in the past and I’ll never do it in the future. There was no intent whatsoever to try to get an advantage.”