Celtic fan Stephen Gallacher watched his footballing favourites get put through their paces in Dubai last week.

Now the Bathgate golfer is hoping he can put in a purposeful shift in the desert too as he prepares to tee-off in his 500th European Tour event.

Gallacher will become just the 32nd player to achieve that milestone when he begins his challenge in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship tomorrow, the first tournament in the circuit’s Middle East Swing

Gallacher enjoyed a leisurely catch up with Celtic skipper and good friend Scott Brown last week and the former Ryder Cup player is now looking to get down to business as he targets a return to golf’s upper echelons.

The 42-year-old has endured an injury plagued spell over the last year or so and feared his career may be over due to a niggling hand problem which required surgery.

Gallo, who has slipped down to 370th on the world rankings, is back to full fitness now, though, and the three-time European Tour winner is raring to go again in 2017 as he looks to clamber back up the order.

He said: “It was good to catch up with Scott in Dubai and they had enjoyed a good, hard week fitness wise out there.

“I put in a good bit of practice there too before moving on to Abu Dhabi. It’s a new start and I feel refreshed and invigorated.

“The passion and hunger is still there. As long as you have that you still have a chance of competing. Once that goes it’s time to chuck it. I feel just as up for it now as I did when I was a kid. There’s been highs and lows but for all the lows, the highs outnumber them easily. There was a point last year, with set back after set back, when I was thinking ‘how long is this going to take?’ But you just have to stay positive. You have to keep believing that you’ll come out the other end better for it.”

Gallacher made his first European Tour start as a teenage amateur in the 1993 Scottish Open and since then has managed to win a trio of titles while achieving his lifelong ambition of representing Europe in the Ryder Cup.

He reflected: “The one thing that sticks in my mind from that first event is how fast the greens were and how tough it was generally. As a young amateur it was rude awakening. At the same time, it really whetted the appetite and made me even more determined to make it.

“I didn’t really have a clue that I was approaching 500 tour events until someone mentioned it to me last season. It’s something I’m pretty proud of as there are not many players who have managed it.

“I’ve had to change my swing through adversity but I feel this will give me more longevity. Hopefully I can keep playing for as long as I want instead of feeling like I have a determined shelf life. I’m not planning going anywhere. So far it’s 500 not out and I plan to be here for a while yet.

“I just want to get back up the rankings, get back into the top 100, get back into the majors and give myself a sporting chance of getting to the Ryder Cup again in 2018. I’m starting on the journey back up again.”