It may not have been the first prize Richie Ramsay wanted, but as consolations go they don’t come much better than a spot at the Open championship.
The 33-year-old Aberdonian was a proud man after landing a tee time at Royal Troon this week with a superb final round in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links.
Ramsay earned one of the four Open places on offer thanks to a closing 67 for a tied sixth place finish on 11-under-par which secured a seventh appearance at golf’s oldest major.
Ramsay made a dream start to his final round with four successive birdies from the third before a bogey five at the seventh halted the momentum.
Another birdie at the short par 4 10th put him back in the running to win the £3.25million event, but the putter went cold as a number of birdie opportunities on the inward nine failed to drop.
A birdie at 16 moved him only one behind co-leaders Danny Lee and Alex Noren but pars at 17 and 18 ended hopes of Ramsay becoming the first home winner at the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie’s 1999 triumph at Loch Lomond.
Despite missing the victory, Ramsay was thrilled to secure a place at this week’s showpiece at Royal Troon.
He said: “I loved it out there. I thought I had a good chance but I’m proud of finishing where I did.
“Making those four birdies in a row definitely got the butterflies in the tummy going and I started feeling the nerves a little bit, but that is what I love.
“I’m trying to win tournaments and there’s none better than the Scottish Open. I gave it 100% so that’s all I can do. I knew standing on the 10th tee that I could win.
“That’s a great feeling and I just have to take that into next year and see if I can get it done. Hopefully I can get the title in the bag one of these years.”
After finding he had secured a place in the Open, one of Ramsay’s next questions was to discover whether Andy Murray had won at Wimbledon.
The Scottish tennis player is a massive source of inspiration for Ramsay and he said: “Did he win? Good. I love watching other athletes, especially Andy, because he’s Scottish and he has that grit and fire, I love that attitude.
“I’ve got that. I’ve tried to tone it down a little bit over the years but I love watching him and try to use him as an inspiration.”
Ramsay had Colin Byrne, the former caddie of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, on the bag for the first time this week and the Aberdonian felt the new partnership worked brilliantly.
He said: “He has got great experience. We chatted about a lot of different things out there which helped me take my mind off things between shots.”