Carnoustie, Scotland …

Scotland’s Richie Ramsay joked his now wife, Angela was not a ‘Hazeltine Heckler’ when he met her during the course of his 2006 U.S. Amateur triumph.

Watching TV coverage of last week’s Ryder Cup brought back fond memories for the Edinburgh-based Ramsay who became just the third Scot, and a first since 1898, when he defeated American John Kelly at Hazeltine National a decade ago.

Richic Ramsay jokes his wife was no Hazeltine heckler when they met at 2006 US Amateur

“I watched a bit of the Ryder Cup and it was really good,” said Ramsay after posting a two under par 68 on day one the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie.

“I thought the boys fought back really well.  On Saturday, if they had just got that point in that Westwood match, two points is not that much. Suddenly McIlroy picks up a win and you’re only one way and you’ve got 11 left. Three was quite a lot.

“The McIlroy game was incredible. Fair play to Patrick Reed. He really played good. Getting the point just gave them a bit of a cushion. You could see the boys behind him just took that and ran with it.

“It probably makes the Ryder Cup better that the USA won but from as European perspective you’re always looking for the guys to  win. It’s a shame they came up short.”

And it prompted questions to Ramsay of 2006 when he added the U.S. Amateur title to his 2004 Scottish Amateur and 2005 Irish Amateur titles to an impressive amateur CV.

However it was during that 2006 U.S. Amateur he met Angela Hudinski who was working at Hazeltine.  Then on 21st September, 2012 the couple held their wedding ceremony at Hazeltine.

And those memories of a decade ago let to a cheeky question if his now wife was a rowdy supporter during the week of the 2006 U.S. Amateur given the controversy created by abusive Hazeltine fans at last week’s 41st Ryder Cup.

“Angela a rowdy U.S. fan?  No, no way,” said Ramsay.

“But she does give out to me, yeah (smiling) and she’s maybe a little bit more rowdy now.

“No seriously, she wanted the Europeans to win last week, and she knows which side to support. It was good to watch. It was just a bit of a shame that it wasn’t a little bit closer coming down the stretch.”

And as for a replacement for European Captain, Darren Clarke?

“I think Paul Lawrie will be in the mix for Paris in 2018,” he said.

“I honestly don’t know what type of captain he would be, what style of captain. All I know is that there are a lot of guys in the mix.

“But it would shock me if Bjorn wasn’t captain for one of the next two. After playing a few times with him and speaking to him, you realise that he is very, very smart. And he’s been assistant captain.

“I think the fact that Paul was assistant captain improves his chances massively. If you’re on that backroom staff and you’ve been there and done it before, so close to the captain, it gives you a definite advantage.

“I would say the players would respect you that little bit more because you’ve been there and done it. If you haven’t been there and done it before as an assistant or a captain, it’s difficult.”