Richie Ramsay’s anxious afternoon wait ended in disappointed and missing out by a stroke in contesting all four rounds of his first U.S. Open as a professional.
Ramsay had recorded three birdies but also four bogeys in a second straight score of 73 for a two over par tally to end his round near lunch in bright but continuing breezy conditions at Erin Hills in rural Wisconsin.
At the time, the cut was at one over and with many believing it would go to two and, if not, three over.
Richie Ramsay and his caddy, affectionately known as “Ferret”, discussing ending with a double on day one at Erin Hills. Image … www.golfbytourmiss.com
However, when the last played putted out it had not move from one over par.
The 34-year old Ramsay had ended day one bitterly disappointed to have double the downhill par three, ninth hole to end his round on Thursday, and so much so, that he and his caddy spent a good few minutes after Ramsay handed in his scorecard reviewing what went wrong to end his first round in a U.S. Open, and in a decade since teeing up as the then reigning U.S. Amateur champion.
There was no such concern at nine on day two having stepped onto the tee moments after having holed an eight-footer for par at the par four eighth hole.
However, any joy was short-lived when Ramsay missed the green right with his approach into the tenth and after chipping to the green, he missed his par from 16-feet.
Ramsay compounded his worries in also dropping a shot at the 11th hole where on this occasion he missed the green left.
He then managed two birdies in succession, landing a 107-yard wedge to 14-feet at the par five, 14th and delighted in holing the birdie putt before pulling off probably the shot of round, in holing a 41-footer for birdie at the par five, 15th.
And like day one, if Ramsay is to look back on the one disappointment it was to then bogey where he found the green at 17 in regulation but proceeded to three-putt from some 35-feet that sent him to two over ahead of ending with a par.
“I wasn’t here yesterday morning but from what I saw on the TV it seemed a calmer than it was today,” he said.
“Now that I’m just in this morning it definitely seems to be settling down again for the afternoon starters. It’s not as severe as catching the wrong side of the draw at The Open – it’s not like last year at Troon!
“But I thought the course was playing harder today – a club more in the wind and playing a shot harder.
“I played well though, I only missed one fairway but I didn’t really hole anything. I had a bad three putt on 17 after hitting a good shot in and I just missed a chance on the last.
“The greens are noticeably quicker too. Not quite like a different course but it felt more like a US Open today, whereas yesterday there was a low score to be had.
“This time it felt like if you miss it on the wrong side you are really going to struggle to get up and down. You’ve got to respect some putts. I mean my playing partner Nick Flanagan hit a great shot to 25 feet and couldn’t putt towards the hole because the slope would have taken it away too fast.
“But overall I thought I played well. One over is a good pretty good score if you look at some of the pin positions out there today. I did myself justice”.
Russell Knox and Martin Laird, and both in the same grouping, were out in the afternoon half of the draw.
