The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Inspiration from Scots legends helps Ramsay’s surge up leaderboard
Podcasts and wise words propel him to second
Inspiration from the Murray brothers and Chris Hoy has sharpened Richie Ramsay’s belief as he took himself to the top of the leaderboard at the Betfred British Masters.
The 38-year-old from Aberdeen put together a bogey-free three-under 69 to get to eight-under at his halfway point at the Belfry.
Former Masters champion Danny Willett, acting as host this week, was the big mover of the morning with a 65.
But Ramsay was two clear when he got up and down at the ninth – his final hole – for his 10th par in a row.
He eventually signed off for a 69 to sit joint second with Marcus Kinhult and 2018 British Masters champion Thorbjorn Olesen and one behind halfway leader Hurly Long.
Listening to podcasts and documentaries about the Murrays and Foy – and one about former All Black captain Richie McCaw – are a way for the alwaysthoughtful Ramsay to try to sharpen his approach to his job.
“You are just looking for stuff,” he said.
“I’ve played golf for 20 years and sometimes you are looking for that little spark that says to you, ‘this is how (others) are doing it, how they are being successful’.
“I listen to a lot of podcasts and the High Performance Podcast, inspired by Chris Hoy or different sports people.
“I watched Resurfacing on Andy Murray several times.
“That stuff is really inspirational, especially when they are Scottish. You look up to them, you want to be on a stage that they have been on, represent Scotland as best you can.
“I’m fortunate that I’m able to sometimes text Jamie Murray. Any time either of us does well, we send a text back and forth.
“It’s no secret what they do. It’s just about trying to be consistent every day.
“Putting in the hard work and do things that make you happy. Do things that are good for your soul and that’s as much off the golf course as it is on it.”
That’s become the key to Ramsay, but on the course he has been relentlessly consistent these last two days, even when seeing his name at the top of the leaderboard when he came up 18 – his ninth.
“I walked up there, saw the leaderboard and your head starts running a bit,” he said. “So you pause and think ‘how do I do this?’”
Ramsay had not forgotten and splashed out of the left side bunker to four feet for his par. At the ninth, his final hole, he had a poor lie in the rough, hacked out short and then pitched to three feet for his four.
“I like that about the course,” he said. “If I hit a poor shot I should get punished. The thing was not to tackle another shot, put it left and then I’m dead.
“Instead I take my medicine, pitch out and I know my short game’s quite good – 6-7-8-9, that’s a tough finish to the front nine.”
It’s still early days, even here. But Ramsay has specific targets for the next two years, after a long chat with long-time coach Ian Rae.
“Some of it was needed, I had a lot of things on my mind,” he continued. “Not concerning him, he’s just a great person to chat to. He was saying to just remember what a good player I am.
“I know where I want to get to in the next two years. If I can get to the end of next year, I’m going to be free to do anything I want.”
Meanwhile, what was the worst that could happen to Robert MacIntyre at the Belfry yesterday?
“What was going through my head when I went back to two-over was ‘I’m playing shinty tomorrow’,” he said.
“The game was in
Glasgow, so it was only a four-hour drive.
Instead, the leftie thrilled the late night crowd at the Betfred British Masters by “pressing the red button” because he felt there was nothing else he could do.
The Scot birdied five of the last six holes and it should have been six. He got a little lucky at the end but exploited that good fortune with a closing birdie, a 67 – and there will be no shinty match this weekend.
He is still six off the nineunder lead held by Germany’s Hurly Long, but playing freely and trusting in those trying their best to help him is what he is focusing on.
“When it’s a case of ‘I can’t do anything but go at it’, that’s when I play my best golf,” he said afterwards. “We are trying to get that from the first tee on Thursday rather than later on.”
The sense that Robert had just been needing a spark was pretty much confirmed on the Brabazon’s back nine, where there are a few chances to build momentum if you get on a run. “Yes, we have spoken about it,” he said, referring to a long debrief with his team on Thursday’s disappointing 74.
“It was a big discussion yesterday with everyone. I play my best golf when I have nothing to lose and have everything to gain.
“I felt I was playing great golf, I just hadn’t holed a put. But then ‘bang’, one goes in and the floodgates open.”
He nearly aced the short 14th after the first birdie at 13, made his regulation four at 15 and then rolled in a 12 footer up the hill at 16. By that time he had the crowd coming to watch a fading Lee Westwood on his side.
But the three-putt at the long 17th seemed to be costly, certainly as when slumped over his driver in despair after the tee shot at 18.
“I felt the worst,” he said, raising his head to see the marshal giving him the thumbs-up.
“The water cuts back more there where it landed, if it runs the same way it does at the start that ball is gone. It was lucky, but I feel like I have been punished enough for good golf over the last wee while.”
It is no good having some luck if you don’t exploit it.
He did with a second shot right over the pin in the shadow of the famous oak tree.
Bob then made the tricky 15-footer down the hill to complete his 67.
“That ball almost always pitches over the green. But Mike (Thomson, his caddie) is there to help me and I need to trust him,” he said.
“I was free-flowing early on and then I wobbled. But I just need to keep that feeling. I need to trust Davey (Burns, his coach) trust Stuart (Morgan, his stats guy) for the performance stuff.
“If I trust in them, I can play carefree. If I do that I’ll play up the top of the leaderboards.”