Thursday 5 October 2017 17:39, UK
Niall Horan's passion for golf has translated into him being involved in managing players on the European Tour, and he has high expectations for Connor Syme in particular.
Horan is currently in the middle of a series of international shows, but he took time out from his day job to fly to Scotland from Rio de Janeiro to spend a couple of days with his good friend Rory McIlroy as well as the three Modest Golf players in action at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The music superstar joined the Modest Golf management team earlier this year and was on hand to help promote the Northern Ireland Open in August, a European Challenge Tour event which attracted a record 45,000 spectators to Galgorm Resort and Spa in Ballymena over the four tournament days.
Horan joined Nick Dougherty in the Sky Sports studio at St Andrews to reflect on the huge success of the event, which was won by Robin Sciot-Siegrist in a fresh format, featuring 54 holes of stroke-play golf followed by a series of knockout play-off matches on the final day.
The former One Direction singer was also delighted with the performance of Syme on his professional debut at the Portugal Masters last month, when the Scottish talent fired four rounds in the 60s to finish in a tie for 12th.
Syme is one of three Modest Golf players in the field this week along with Jack Singh Brar and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who all played the first round at Carnoustie.
Of the three, Walker Cup star Syme clearly benefitted from playing a practice round with McIlroy on Wednesday as he carded a respectable level-par 72 on what is traditionally the toughest of the three courses in action.
Horan was in the galleries to watch his prospect tackle just his fifth round among the professional ranks, and he made it clear that the players under his management team were his over-riding priority this week before he returns to touring on Friday.
Horan also discussed his close friendship with McIlroy, who he caddied for in the par-three contest at The Masters in 2015. Watch the video above to see the full interview on Sky Sports Golf ...
