Simon Dyson has broken his silence since being handed a suspended sentence following allegations of cheating and declaring he is looking to start afresh this week in Abu Dhabi.
Dyson was disqualified following video footage showing him to have illegally tapped down a spike mark during the second round of last October’s BMW Masters in Shanghai.
The English golfer then faced a three-man disciplinary panel hearing early last month (DEC) where he was fined £30,000 (STG) and given a two-month suspended sentence for 18 months.
The panel found Dyson’s conduct in Shanghai involved ‘a momentary aberration on his part, not a premeditated act of cheating’.
Dyson competed in three events late last year in the European Tour’s wraparound 2013/14 schedule but is returning to competition for a first time since the December 5th hearing in London and teeing-up in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“The last few months haven’t been really nice actually and it’s made me realise how much I do love the game,” he said.
“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.
“But then 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 with everyone just getting on with it. What’s in the past is in the past and I can’t do anything about it.
“And 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 my wife and I went back home and we haven’t spoken about it, so we’ve just got on with it and I’m now looking forward to starting afresh.”
However the appearance of Dyson in the UAE capital has generated much conversation and with questions also over the York-born golfer’s relationship with his sponsors given he was observed on the practice range without his distinctive Nike logo cap and also wearing a plain ‘off the rack’ golf shirt.
“The judgement said ‘aberration’ and that’s how I look at it, totally,” he added.
“I mean there was never intent whatsoever. 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. I’m just going to be very careful from now on, make sure I’m on the ball and be very professional about everything I do.
“And hopefully get back to where I was a couple of years ago.
“What happened in Shanghai was the lowest point of my golfing career, 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.”
Dyson will contest the opening two rounds of this week’s $US 2.7m event alongside England’s Mark Foster and Scottish rookie Jamie McLeary.
