Richie Ramsay is banking on an Augusta National tee time heading to the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and all thanks to a chat with newly-appointed Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley
Ramsay posted six birdies in a five under par 67 yesterday (Sat) to muscle his way into a share of fifth place on eight under and just four shots behind Ryder Cup winning hero, Justin Rose.
Rose is competing in Abu Dhabi for a first time and after three-putting the first for bogey, the World No. 5 birdied five of six holes from the fourth.
As well, Rose is now looking to make amends, and in the absence of Rory McIlroy, after losing last year’s season-ending nearby Dubai event to the World No. 1 despite shooting a final day 62.
Ramsay arrived in the UAE capital having only managed to break 70 just once in a dozen rounds on this week’s course.
He’s now done that twice this week after fighting back from a first round 73 with a day two 68.
Scotland’s Richie Ramsay on the verge of returning to Augusta National with help from newly-appointed Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley. (Photo – Jenny Matthews/www.golffile.ie)
“I am slightly surprised I am doing as well as there were a few things going on over my break, none the least being my honeymoon,” said the Scot.
“So I do so much, but it’s kept me a little fresher coming into this week.
“I’ve just played really nice, and stayed patient on the greens again, rolling in a couple that makes the difference. “
While Ramsay had 33 putts on day one, he’s managed to reduce that tally to 28 on day two and 29 yesterday, and thanks to ‘Yes’ Putting instructor, Phil Kenyon.
“I believe Phil Kenyon is one of the most underrated teachers in golf,” added Ramsay.
“I’ve continued that work I did with him towards the end of last season, just in-graining it.
“I don’t want to do too much else for the next two or three weeks, not too many technical thoughts in my brain, just trying to free-flow it.
“So where I am at the moment is a mixture of what Phil tells me and what Bob Rotella teaches. It’s mixing the two together.”
Twelve months ago the Aberdonian arrived in the UAE capital ranked 102nd in the world.
Now the reigning Omega European Masters champion is just one round away from the dream ranking of top-50 in the world.
Ramsay would move to 48th in the world should he hold his present fifth position in Abu Dhabi while a third would send him as high as 45th and if so, Ramsay can start counting the big-buck doors that will be flung open in his favour.
Firstly, top-64 in the world guarantees Ramsay a first start in next month’s $US 8.75m WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship in Arizona.
A top-50 ranking would get him to the following fortnight’s similar cash tournament, the WGC – Cadillac Championship in Miami.
And if Ramsay can hold his place among the very elite of world golf to mid-March then it will be a return visit to Augusta National and his first as a pro after making his Masters debut in 2007 as the reigning US Amateur champion.
But the deliberate-thinking Scot is not about to be blinded by on-coming headlights and he can thank McGinley for that.
“This is a very good event world ranking points-wise as Tiger and Rory were here,” he said.
“But I’ve got to build my schedule a bit more carefully this year, and in this regard I spoke to Paul McGinley at length at the BMW Masters in China at the end of last year.
“We were hitting balls on the range, and I asked him a few questions about schedule and courses to play. We’ve got a similar type of game, and there are courses like Lake Malaren in China which doesn’t suit me as well.
”I’ve got to get used to these type of courses and try and play better on them, but at the same time there are specific courses that I’ll target, which I can definitely win around or play good around, where I have a slight advantage.
“McGinley was just saying to work on your game and plan your schedule accordingly.
“So you can’t hide from that but at the same time don’t let anyone knock you off your path.
“You’ve got to where you are by believing in yourself, and keeping people around you who know you. The higher you get up the more you should be connected with them, almost less connected with people who say what you should be doing.
“McGinley was very good. I asked him if he didn’t mind giving me a little time as we had gone round pretty quickly. He said, no problem, any time you want a chat just give me a shout.”
