Richie Ramsay was crestfallen after seeing his chance at British Masters glory slip from his grasp but he should not be so hard on himself.
A double bogey six at the last hole after dunking his approach shot into the water meant Richie, who had a one shot lead at 10 under par for the tournament, finished eight under in a share of third place.
Only Richie will know what went wrong. Maybe he made a mistake with his routine, used the wrong club or simply hit a poor shot.
Sometimes you can push it too hard and things go wrong. It happens to all of us.
He called it the biggest kick in the teeth in his career not only due to it being the final hole but also because it happened in a UK event at the Belfry.
Clearly he was thinking he needed to get to 11 under to win and there was a lot riding on his shot as crucially, he was not in the last group on the course.
There were players behind him so there was a clear risk and reward scenario in play and unfortunately Richie’s risk did not pay off.
He would not have felt it at the time but a few days later he should be looking back on a brilliant week despite what happened.
Olesen’s sensational finish
He also has to bear in mind even if he had birdied the last it would not have given him victory. He would have been in a play-off with Thorbjorn Olesen who had an incredible finish of his own to claim victory.
He holed a 27ft putt for an eagle on 17 before sinking a 35 footer for birdie at the last to win the tournament on 11 under.
I played the first two rounds with Thorbjorn and he played brilliantly. It looked as if he was out of it on Sunday but his recovery was sensational as he showed his class to come through and take the title.
It was reminiscent of Richard Bland’s win at the Belfry last year and it’s a finish which we’ll all remember for years to come.
As for Richie, it is important he does not dwell on what happened.
He must take confidence from all the other shots he played and channel it into a positive reaction.
He had a good week, collected valuable order of merit points and along with Connor Syme, who had a good week of his own in finishing tied for third alongside Ramsay.
The performance puts both guys in a good position in terms of qualifying for the US Open. The British Masters doubled as the first of the four events in the European Qualifying Series for the US Open.
Three more good performances in the Soudal Open this week in Belgium, the Dutch Open in two weeks’ time and the European Open in Germany in June puts them in contention for a place in the field at Brookline as there are 10 spots on offer.
Scheffler adds more glitz to a glamorous Scottish Open field
The ante seems to be increasing every week as one big name after another confirms their intention to play in the Scottish Open this summer and the addition of Scottie Scheffler is terrific.
I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to Collin Morikawa. When he won the Open at Royal St George’s last year he spoke in glowing terms about what good preparation the Scottish Open the week before had been.
It’s clear a lot of guys heard those words as the field assembling for The Renaissance Club in July is outrageous and it looks like we’ll have 40 of the world’s top 50 there which is incredible.
The big event of the summer is the 150th Open at St Andrews, but the Scottish Open is going to be a terrific starter the week before the main course.
Speaking of Scheffler, I note he has been doing his homework too at Southern Hills ahead of the PGA Championship next week.
While there was a big fuss about Tiger Woods being pictured chatting with Cary Cozby, the director of golf at Southern Hills, Masters champion Scheffler has made headlines of his own after a six-under-par 64 in his practice round.
With Woods and a returning Phil Mickelson set to pitch up next week it’s clear the world number one is ready for the challenge as he bids to win his second major of the year.
Monster muncher leaves Hahn rattled
I’ve heard a few wild excuses for players being put off by spectators but James Hahn’s unhappiness with a fan at the Wells Fargo Championship is top of the pile.
Hahn claims he was put off a putt due to the sound of a fan eating their crisps too loudly.
James Hahn confronted a fan for eating chips too loud during his putt 💀 pic.twitter.com/8CP6Z7ox4Y
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) May 8, 2022
Yes, you read that right, a monster muncher. In my 26 year career this one takes the biscuit.
I’d suggest Hahn needs to work on his routine and his concentration a little more if something as trivial as chewing crisps is enough to rattle him.