All change for Jamieson but he’s off to a decent start with new caddie Morbey
◆ Fresh beginning in Dubai after lengthy partnership with looper Blair ends
One of the longestrunning partnerships on the DP World Tour has finally come to an end. After ten years picking lines off tees, sizing up approaches and working out lines of putts together around the globe, Scott Jamieson and Ritchie Blair have parted company.
For this week’s 35th edition of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, Jamieson has Phil ‘Wobbly’ Morbey on his bag for the first time while Blair, a fellow Scot, has now linked up with Englishman Matthew Southgate.
“It’s finally over, yeah,” confirmed Jamieson, speaking to The Scotsman after recovering from a bogey at the par-4 first on the Majlis Course to enjoy a pleasing first day at the office with Morbey, one of the mostexperienced loopers in the game, at his side as he carded a three-under-par 69 in the opening Rolex Series event of the 2024 campaign.
“Ritchie called me up before Christmas and he said he was going elsewhere. That’s fine by me as we had a really good run, so no hard feelings. I’ve seen him a couple of times this week and it’s just been normal. Yeah, ten years, maybe the time was right to freshen things up and I’ve ended up with someone with even more experience. We’ll see how it plays out, but a nice start today.”
Morbey caddied for
Ian Woosnam when the Welshman won The Masters in 1991 and also worked for Jose Maria Olazabal, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn. More recently, he’s had two separate spells with Calum Hill, who, in another change at the start of a new calendar campaign, now has fellow Scot Mike Thomson on his bag.
“Well, I had no idea how you get a new caddie,” admitted Jamieson, laughing, in reply to being asked how his linkup with Morbey had come about. “I’ve only ever had two, so I sent a text to [fellow DP World Tour player] James Morrison, who has been through a few and said ‘how do I get a caddie?’
“So he played caddiemaster for me. He gave me a list of names that were available and then it got busy over Christmas and New Year. When it came to 2-3 January, I thought to myself ‘I probably need to have a think about this’, so I texted Wobbly and he was still available.”
On a day when American Cameron Young holed an eagle putt across the 18th green for a five-under 67 to set the pace along with 2018 winner Haotong Li from China, Englishman Andy Sullivan and Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, Jamieson birdied the fifth, eighth and ninth holes on the tougher front nine before adding his fourth gain of the day at the par-5 13th.
“Yeah, starting with a bogey isn’t ideal, so I’m pleased with that,” said the Scot, who took it right to the wire in the final regular event of the 2023 campaign before holding onto his card for a 14th successive season, of his morning’s work.
“I always think under par and even level par on the front nine is pretty good here. You generally always make your score here on the back nine, so to be two under on the front nine was a really good start and it’s always a bonus when you birdie the ninth, where I hit a 6-iron and holed about a 12-footer.”
Jamieson is making his 13th appearance in this event, having tied for fifth on his debut in 2012.
“The greens are the best I’ve seen them,” he said, echoing a widely-held view this week. “They always roll well, but I think there’s more grass on them than I’ve ever seen.
“It probably means there’s a little bit more grain, but it’s easy to see. The course itself, there’s more rough than usual and, overall, it is really good.”
During a short break between the old campaign ending and a new one starting, the Florida-based Glaswegian celebrated his 40th birthday. “My wife planned a trip up to Savannah,” he said of how that occasion had been marked.
“My neighbour has a little six-seater plane, so three couples went up in that and we had a day and a night out. It was a lot of fun and I got to fly the plane on the way there, which was interesting. And I’d only had two glasses of champagne when I was flying it [laughing]. We then went up to New York with the kids just after New Year, which was part of their Christmas present.”
Later in the day, compatriot and fellow 40-year-old Richie Ramsay also signed for a 69, with his effort being bogeyfree, while Grant Forrest sits on three under as well with a hole to complete this morning after yesterday’s play was suspended due to fading light.
“I had quite a few chances,” said Ramsay of a round that was illuminated by an impressive eagle-3 at the ninth, where he rolled in a 16-footer, after earlier making a 2 from a similar distance at the short fourth.
Unlike Jamieson, Ramsay played in last week’s inaugural Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek, where the Aberdonian reckoned that the challenge in Bermuda grass in the rough was “reading the lies” whereas this week it requires “sheer power” to get out of the thick stuff.
“I hit most fairways and, when I didn’t, I was just on the first cut, which is more than playable,” added Ramsay. “But, if you start hitting it in the thicker stuff, then it’s really tough.”
As for the greens, he said: “They are significantly better after they obviously struggled for a couple of years. I was surprised how firm and fast they were for a Thursday. I thought they’d build them up, but that’s not my expertise and, when you’ve got pure sunshine like this, you can put water on them when you need to.”
I hit most of the fairways. If you start hitting it in the thicker stuff, it’s really tough Richie Ramsay