Ramsay weathers the storm to keep hopes alive of taking the title
RICHIE RAMSAY embraced the elements to sail to within six shots of the lead in torrential rain at the Scottish Open.
The 33-year-old was top Scot on day three at Castle Stuart, recording a two-under-par round of 70 to keep his hopes of a career-defining victory – and of qualification for next week’s Open Championship – alive.
An eagle on three sparked Ramsay’s round after he smashed a three wood 290 yards off the tee to within a foot of the pin.
And the confident Aberdonian insists he can mount a challenge on overnight leader Alex Noren by staying cool.
He said: “I’ve got to stick to my plan – and my plan is always to be the best that I can be.
“If I get up in the morning, prepare well, do my warm-up, do my putting drills, go out on the range and have a good attitude, if you mix that together the potential is limitless.
“I just hope that comes. If you try your hardest that’s all you can do.
“If it’s a 62 that comes then you’re doing cartwheels down the fairway. If it’s a 72 you’re probably a little bit frustrated.
“But you can walk away with your head held high because you did everything you could. Patience on a links course is always valuable. It really shows itself out here.
“You just have to go with it. It’s the same for everybody out there.
“If you see guys moaning that’s good because you think they’re not liking it – and I’m going to try to embrace it.
“But I’m not smelling the Ayrshire breeze yet. I’m just focusing on the Moray Firth one at the minute.”
Highest-ranked Scot Russell Knox’s hopes took a severe dent after bogeys on 16 and 17 left him four-under-par for the tournament, eight shots off the lead.
“I’ll give it my best but I’m going to have to shoot 10 under probably,” Knox admitted.
“I think 16 and 17 have cost me my chance but I’ll come out firing tomorrow and see what I can do.
“If I could have picked up a shot instead of dropping two I would have been right there. It’s funny how quickly it happens.”
Meanwhile, David Drysdale carded a year-best, six-underpar round of 66 to keep alive his slim Open hopes.
Eagles at three and six and birdies on two and eighteen moved him to four-under-par – within touching distance of the places that will secure a lastgasp slot at Royal Troon.
After scraping through Friday night’s cut, Drysdale allowed himself a degree of satisfaction with the manner of his response.
But the 21-year pro insisted Open qualification, while an attractive proposition, will not dominate his thoughts today.
“It’s a move in the right direction from making the cut right on the mark,” he said.
“At three under after three holes it was a great start but it was a shame not to make a few more. I had an awful lot of good chances out there.
“But I’ll take it. I’ve got a platform to just keep doing what I’m doing and see where it takes us.”