Ramsay ready to attack from the off
Co-leader can pressurise f inal group
IF Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay had been able to sink a par putt on the 18th green in Morocco last night, he would have been paired to play today i n the last group with Glasgow’s Andrew McArthur at the Trophee Hassan II.
But the two Scots will be very much in the hunt as both go into the fourth round at the Golf du Palais Royal in a share of the lead with Frenchman Romain Wattel.
And Ramsay will have the chance to put pressure on his fellow countryman by posting a low score playing in the penultimate group.
Although he could only shoot a one-under par 71 yesterday, he reckons that, despite a niggling back injury, his golf is in good enough shape to record his third win on the European Tour.
‘I hit the ball really well out there and it could have been a 66 today,’ said Ramsay, who knew his only shortcoming was the fact that he took 31 putts in the round.
‘I just couldn’t sink any putts. I feel the course owes me a lot and, hopefully, I will get some in tomorrow.
‘But it’s great to be going into the hunt on the final day and being in the hunt at the start of the back nine on Sunday is exactly where you want to be.’
McArthur was an amateur rival of Ramsay in their teenage days but, now aged 35, the Glaswegian has spent all but one of his years as a pro playing on Europe’s second tier Challenge Tour.
And if Ramsay cannot win today, he knows who he would like to win the €250,000 first-prize cheque.
‘Andy and I have known each other for years and it’s great to see him doing well. But I have got to stick to my guns to try to win,’ he said.
McArthur has only made one previous cut on the main Tour this year and knows there will be a chasing pack today of seven players just one shot off the lead, including tour winners Pablo Larrazabal and Soren Kjeldsen.
But after starting the day in the middle of the field and shooting a 67, McArthur was feeling hungry for success.
‘It would be massive if I could win here,’ he said. ‘I have been playing on the Challenge Tour for one too many years.
‘I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but if I can get through the first four or five holes here, who knows.’
And, unlike Ramsay, he feels ready to take birdie chances if they come his way. ‘I’ve holed a few putts,’ he said. ‘Earlier this year, in Joburg, I moved up on the last day holing putts. I’ll just keep doing what I am doing.’
And it is not just at the Palace course that Scots will be looking for a big finish in Morocco today.
At the aptly named Ocean Course two miles down Agadir’s Atantic coastline, Lanark’s Pamela Pretswell is hoping for a top-10 finish at the Ladies European Tour Lalla Meryem Cup.
And, a significant health issue apart, she is confident that she can add to her recent impressive performance at the New Zealand Open and the World Ladies Championship in Mission Hills, China, where she twice finished in sixth spot.
Although a level-par third round 71 yesterday left her in a share of 12th place, eight shots behind French leader Gwladys Nocera, Pretswell said: ‘I have had a cold since I got here, so I am just happy to be playing in the final round.
‘I started from the second tee and made a bogey at my first hole and I dropped a shot at 17th where I had run out of energy and hit a bad shot into a bunker.
‘But if I can get a good night’s rest, I could still get another top-10, but to do that I will have to start holing some putts which I didn’t really do today. But its been a good start to the year and I hope it continues.’
However, a top-20 place may be the best Glasgow’s Kylie Walker can hope for, after she shot a 71 yesterday and crept into the top 40 on the leaderboard.