The Open: Richie Ramsay gets advice from No 1’s caddie

By MARTIN DEMSPTER
Published on 18/07/2012 00:00

RICHIE Ramsay is hoping to make his mark in the 141st Open Championship – thanks to a pep talk-from Luke Donald’s caddie.

John McLaren offered the Aberdonian some words of wisdom after he played with the world No 1 in the opening two rounds of the Scottish Open.

That event saw Ramsay miss the cut for the fourth time in five events, but, thanks to McLaren, he’s “up for the challenge” this week in his third Open Championship appearance. “Johnny is an intelligent guy and he has been on the bag of a few guys,” said Ramsay. “So I picked his brains about a few things and he was good enough to give me 15 minutes of his time at Castle Stuart.

“What you don’t realise is that these guys are out there all the time seeing things but they’re independent as well. They don’t care what they say to you, so they tell you the straight-up truth and they give it to you on the chin. He pointed out a few things I could work on but also a few things he felt were positive abut my game. He has been there and done it and he’s seen it with different types of players, which is important.

“He re-emphasised to me that my game is there, he told me I wouldn’t have been able to get where I have if I didn’t have talent and drive.

“Sometimes it’s nice to have someone say that to you and I have incorporated a few things he said into my game plan for this week.”

Ramsay, who earned his place in the field through finishing 28th in last year’s Race to Dubai, met up with Donald and McLaren again to play a few practice holes on Monday morning. World No 3 Lee Westwood was with him too.

“I didn’t speak to Luke specifically but you can watch him and watch the way he plods round the course and you realise you’re no different to him,” added the former US amateur champion. “You’re putting it in the same positions and, with Luke, you’re hitting it the same distance. You look at certain parts of his game and realise that you’re at the same level.

“Then you consider he’s the No 1 player in the world and there are other areas where 
you are well behind and that’s when you have to pick up shots.”

In a bid to at least make the cut in the world’s oldest major at the third time, Ramsay is trying to “downplay” things this week. “For me this is just a medal, four days,” he said.

“If someone told me when I was 15 or 16 I would play four days at the Open I would have loved that. So that’s the attitude I am going to take into this week.”