Stephen Gallacher was looking forward to reaping rich rewards for winning his second successive Dubai Desert Classic, and the one that particularly excites him is the possibility of a first-ever visit to Augusta Nationals in April.

A brilliant back nine on Sunday, when he came back in four-under par after dropping four shots and relinquishing his lead on the front nine, helped him finish on 16-under par 272, one shot ahead of Argentine youngster Emiliano Grillo.

It was Gallacher’s third Tour win in 431 starts and the 39-year-old Scotsman moved up 30 places in the world rankings to 37. If he stays inside the top-50 two weeks till the last week of March, he gets into this year’s Masters.

Gallacher also felt that the win could be the key to following in the footsteps of his illustrious uncle Bernard, and become the next member from the Gallacher family to play in the Ryder Cup.

When asked about his near future after the move into the top-50 of the world, Gallacher said: “Well, brilliant, isn’t it. That was my goal.

“I was into Doral and I’m now into the Open. The key was to try and get into all the big events, the Majors.

“If you have aspirations of playing Ryder Cup, it’s pretty hard to get in if you’re not playing the big tournaments.

“You need to do well in them obviously. But getting away to a fast start was crucial, as well, so delighted, it’s all going to plan so far,” said Gallacher.

“Well, any golfer that’s never played Augusta – I’ve had the opportunity to play it, but I say that I would never go unless I got in the tournament.

“So, I’m delighted at my age that I can go now. I’ve watched it as a kid. We used to get it on the terrestrial TV and it was just a tournament I got allowed to watch when I was a young kid.

“I remember Sandy Lyle and Woosie (Ian Woosnam) and all these guys winning, Fred Couples back in the day. So, I’d love to be there… I’m delighted. Hopefully, I’ve done well enough to get into it.

“That’s definitely one of my dreams to play in Augusta.”

As for the Ryder Cup, which will be played right next to his house in Gleneagles, Gallacher was trying not to get too excited about his chances so early in the year.

“Well, I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself, but certainly with my uncle playing in it eight times, captained it three times and vice captained it twice, so it’s pretty much all I grew up watching,” said the Scotsman.

“And then, when it’s 37 miles from the house, in my generation, it’s never going to be in Scotland again…

“It’s always been a long term goal of mine to play in a Ryder Cup. It just so happens that the best chance I’m having is for the one that’s in Scotland.

“But it’s seven months to go and a lot of golf to be played and a lot of good golf needed to get into it.

“That’s my long term goal but the short term is to try to get into all these big events, but then you need to play well in them, as well, to amass the points to give Paul (McGinley, European captain) a headache, hopefully.”