Ramsay’s sights set on ‘Holy Grail’

Richie Ramsay has set his sights on the “Holy Grail” of golf after kickstarting his season with his best performance for more than two years.

The Scot’s tie for second in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was his first top-10 finish of the year and most impressive result since claiming the third of his European Tour titles at the Hassan Trophy in March 2015.

A closing 65 also gave Ramsay the biggest payday of his career (£466,000), secured a place in next week’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and lifted him from 341st in the world rankings to 170th.

And the 34-year-old from Aberdeen is now focused on climbing into the world’s top 50 to book a second appearance in the Masters, having qualified in 2007 courtesy of his victory in the previous year’s US Amateur.

“The top 50 is like the Holy Grail in golf,” Ramsay, who reached a high of 52nd in 2012, said ahead of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

“It changes your schedule and I’ve always wanted to play the Masters again. That’s my favourite golf course, my favourite event.

“I won’t lie, somebody asked me what were you thinking down the stretch in Ireland and you do think about the impact. It’s a $7 million event.

“You think about the impact it can have if you win the event, like life-changing.

“You can go into the majors or move up the Race to Dubai and you can play wherever you want. All of those things go through your head.

“World rankings come into it, but every time I thought about that I moved back to what I had to do, which was focus on the shot and just pick off a yardage, pick the wind and focus on my process, and I did that really well.

“I think top 50 starts with a solid foundation, which is a good plan. And then from there you have a team around you, which I feel that I’ve got, and just trying to execute.

“And I haven’t executed that well this year, but I feel that l’ve stayed really patient and just tried to do the day-to-day stuff well.”