The Home of Golf nation is assured of at least one Scot inside the ropes at this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome.
Stephen Gallacher will not qualify nor will he be on Luke Donald’s back-room team but after his debut behind the microphone earlier this year at the Hero Cup, the Scot’s revealed SKY Sports Golf want the Bathgate pro to be part of their on-course commentary team in Rome.
Indeed, SKY was so impressed with Gallacher in his debut role last January in Abu Dhabi for the Hero Cup, they’ve asked him to also work this year’s 151st Open Championship.
He said: “I quite enjoyed working for SKY at the Hero.
Stevie Gallacher working for SKY earlier this year at the Hero Cup. Good thanks to good friend Dave Cannon/Getty
“I doing the Ryder Cup with them and they want me at The Open, so I’m just dipping my toe in the water just to see, so who knows where it will leave”.
Gallacher also is the last Scot to play in a Ryder Cup, as a member of Paul McGinley’s winning 2014 side at Gleneagles, but he hopes to see that change later this year.
He said: “Does it surprise me I am the last Scot to play in a Ryder Cup? Well, yes and no. There is a good chance this year that one, if not two, Scotsman could be in Luke Donald’s team.
“There are a lot of young golfers coming through right now including Bob MacIntyre who’s got a chance while you’ve got players like Calum Hill, Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme.
“They only need one good week at the right time and that shoots them right up the rankings, so here’s fingers crossed for them, hoping they qualify.”
Gallacher will be in the Italian capital in the week of the Ryder Cup as he’s the European captain for the Junior Ryder Cup, and with competition taking place earlier in the week of the Ryder Cup.
Indeed, the now three-day competition will take place with the opening two rounds of the Golf Nazionale course and the final round on the Marco Simone, on the eve the Ryder Cup proper gets underway.
Gallacher said: “It’s a massive step on the part of the tour to host the junior Ryder Cup in the same week as the Ryder Cup, and what an opportunity for them to be playing the closing singles on the Thursday, and on the same course as the Ryder Cup the next day.
“I’ve spoken and kept in touch with a lot of former Tour players who I played alongside to keep their eye out for any young talent in their own countries.
“So, it’s been great for me to go out and meet some of the kids who may in the team.
“I’m really looking forward to the role and something I am not taking lightly”.
However, Gallacher’s focus is this week’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Challenge and on the same Abu Dhabi course he walked for SKY in January but first teed-up 17-years years ago in the inaugural Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the main DP World Tour.
He said: “I played in 15 of the 16 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championships since its first year here in 2006, missing just one in 2015, due to injury.
“I’ve never played my best golf in Abu Dhabi over the years, possibly due to this traditionally being the first event of my year coming straight from Scotland, which is not famous for having ideal weather for practice and preparation in January”.
Gallacher is among eight Scots including his fellow Bathgate member Louis Gaughan, the now Dubai Hills Pro who will make his tour debut after winning the Emirates PGA Championship.
And this week’s secondary Challenge Tour event boasts one of the strongest fields for a long time, with Gallacher among 19 main tour champions, who have won 46 events between them.
A win by any of the Scots will help to earn hopeful main 2024 DP World Tour membership
