Martin Dempster: Plenty of positives in air despite Scots falling short

Published on Monday 30 August 2010 14:54

IT would be easy - predictable perhaps - to focus on the negatives. The absence of a Scot in a Ryder Cup team for the second match running. Martin Laird three-putting from 20 feet to lose The Barclays and, with it, a $1.35 million jackpot.

• Scotland's Martin Laird, right, congratulates Matt Kuchar after losing out to the American in The Barclays play-off

Stephen Gallacher and Marc Warren both falling away in the final round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where only four Scots from a group of 24 survived the cut.

However, to dwell too much on any of those would be missing a point because, in actual fact, there are lots of positives in the air for Scottish golf at the moment, even though it was disappointing that some of our players, Laird in particular, were not rewarded in a just way for their latest efforts on circuits around the world.

In just about every tournament worth its salt that took place at the weekend, a Scot was in contention going into the final round. Laird in the opening event in the FedEx Cup Play-Offs. Gallacher and Warren closer to home. Raymond Russell in the Wales Challenge. Catriona Matthew in the Canadian Women's Open. Vikki Laing in the Finnair Masters on the Ladies European Tour.

Ultimately, they all fell just short of the promised land - some getting closer than others - but it was encouraging, nonetheless, to see so many Scottish players knocking at the door, which, in the case of most of those mentioned, is looking as though it is ready to open in the near future.

Take Laird and Gallacher, for example. Once the dust has settled on an exciting Ryder Cup race, their recent exploits on either side of the Atlantic have certainly improved the prospects of having a Scot back on the European team next time around, in contrast to two years ago, when we were all in despair over the state of the game in the home of the golf.

Laird will be hurting at the moment after missing out on victory, not to mention a wad of cash, in The Barclays.

But the 27-year-old can go forward to the next big-money event in that series, this week's Deutsche Bank Championship, with his head held high. The man who decided to make America his home after going to college in Colorado had already made some people sit up and take notice when he made his breakthrough on the PGA Tour in Justin Timberlake's event in Las Vegas last autumn. He certainly had Nick Faldo and his fellow CBS Sports commentators raving as he came down the stretch on this occasion.

That Laird didn't secure by far the biggest win of his career wasn't down to his bottle crashing.

If that had been the case, he'd have fallen out of contention long before he lost in a play-off to a wonder shot from Matt Kuchar at the first extra hole. Laird's consolation was a cheque for $810,000 and third spot in the money-spinning FedEx Cup - a leap of 92 places.

He's also up to 61st in the world rankings, taking him back above Gallacher. The way things are going it won't be long until both of them have broken into the top 50. That, of course, would be great news as it would see a Scottish presence again in the World Golf Championships.

Like Laird, Gallacher will also have the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah firmly in his sights over the next two years as he bids to build on a sparkling run of form.

Long regarded as one of the best ball-strikers by his peers, the 35-year-old is now churning out eye-catching performances on a regular basis. He's missed just one cut in 20 events, had four top 10s, produced two decent displays in majors and is lying 21st in the Race to Dubai.

Having played alongside the likes of Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Martin Kaymer in recent weeks, Gallacher has seen for himself that he can hold his own at the highest level, just as Laird is proving as well. Richie Ramsay, in winning the South African Open, has also shown what he's capable of within the last year and Warren hopefully, might not be too far away from re-capturing his best form.

"All of a sudden Scottish golf isn't so bad," noted Gallacher at Gleneagles. "It's what people like myself have been saying. It's not far away. It definitely happens in cycles."

Matthew, in particular, and both Janice Moodie and Mhairi McKay, to a lesser degree, have constantly done Scotland proud on the LPGA Tour and continue to do so.

Even that celebrated trio will admit, though, that the emergence of some potential successors has been long overdue, so it was encouraging to see Laing, a four-time Scottish girls' champion, starting to make her mark on the Ladies European Tour.

Twice a runner-up this season, she's up to ninth on the Henderson Money List and, sensibly, aims to stay on this side of the Atlantic for another full campaign before trying her luck back on the LPGA circuit, by which time there's a fair chance the likes of Kylie Walker, Carly Booth, Kelsey MacDonald and Sally Watson will also be enjoying success at the top level in the ladies' game.