LUMSDEN FACING STERNEST EXAM YET THANKS TO WISE PROFESSOR
RYAN LUMSDEN has cause to thank a kindly economics professor at Northwestern University in Chicago for the fact he is playing alongside the stars in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. In the eternal question of which comes first — school or sport? — you might have thought the prof would always go for the former given Northwestern’s prestigious academic reputation. But she gave her blessing to the 21-year-old Scot taking time off from his studies to compete in a sectional qualifier, where he earned his spot in the field for the season’s second major. Not that Lumsden got away totally scot-free. Once the 36-hole qualifier staged in Columbus, Ohio was over, he drove six hours back to Chicago, arriving home at 3am — before getting up a few hours later to sit his accountancy exam! ‘I wouldn’t be contemplating my first major if it wasn’t for one great economics professor and I’m hugely grateful to her,’ said Lumsden, one of four Scots playing at Shinnecock along with Russell Knox, Richie Ramsay and fellow US-based youngster Calum Hill. ‘I went to her at the start of term and explained that I had entered local qualifying and there would be a clash if I got through to the sectional. I asked if it was okay and she went away for a couple of days and then came back and said yes. So, a big thank you to her. ‘As for the exam, I’m not sure how I did but I think it went okay.’ He certainly earned himself a straight A for coming through the hardest sectional qualifier, one where most of the top PGA Tour players not in the US Open field turn up. ‘I stopped at one point to watch Adam Scott, who was playing a couple of groups behind, hit a couple of shots,’ said Lumsden, who finished on the same 36-hole score as Scott to earn his place — the only amateur to do so from that
qualifier. ‘It’s all a new experience for me and it’s a lot of fun.’ Practice rounds alongside Ernie Els and Peter Uihlein have added to the enjoyment, while he has been picking the brains of two former Northwestern alumni who have graduated to the golf circuit with distinction. ‘I played nine holes with Matt Fitzpatrick and I’m having dinner with Luke Donald later in the week,’ said Lumsden. ‘I was talking with Luke and he was telling me about his first major and what it will be like. I’d love to have the chance to follow in their footsteps and become a golfer one day but we’ll see if I can keep improving.’
Lumsden, whose father Alasdair was a journeyman tennis pro before making a living working for companies such as Sky and EMI, was brought up in London and went to Wellington School, where the fees start at £10,000 per term. But there was never any question where his national loyalties lay. ‘My grandfather was a professor at Heriot Watt University, I learned the game playing at North Berwick and I chose to play in the Scottish Boys Championship rather than the English Boys when I was 15,’ said Lumsden, who lost in the final of the Scottish Amateur Championship last year. ‘When I got the call asking if I would like to play for Scotland in the Home Internationals, it was an easy decision for me and I’ve always felt like that.’ Lumsden will return to the UK for the summer, and hopes to play for Scotland in the European Team Championships and the Home Internationals. As for this week, he is setting no targets. ‘I love the golf course with its linksy feel. It reminds me a lot of Muirfield in the sense that it is long, hard, beautiful and a joy to play,’ he said. ‘I just want to treat it all as a great learning experience. It would be wonderful to play well and see where my game stacks up, but I have no expectations.’