Golf: Drysdale begins late push for St Andrews

This time last year Drysdale was riding on the crest of a wave as he found himself well on the way to securing a place in the inaugual season-ending Dubai World Championship.

The Cockburnspath-based player had also qualified for The Open at Turnberry and, a few months later, topped off his year by representing Scotland for the first time in the World Cup in China.

All things considered, it was always going to be a hard act to follow and Drysdale has arrived at Loch Lomond this week feeling a bit frustrated about how his 2010 season has gone so far.

"My golf this season just hasn't been consistent enough," he admitted. "There have been a lot of good scores there and I've been in a lot of good positions. But three or four events in a row I had very poor weekends.

"I played pretty decent in Germany a couple of weeks ago and went to France last weekend feeling confident. However, I missed the cut after not putting very well. I wasn't too bad tee to green but just didn't make anything on the greens.

"I have been impatient a bit on certain occasions. Seville, where I did well last year, was one of those instances. I was lying seventh or eighth going into the weekend and maybe had a bit more expectation and pushed too hard, shooting a couple of rounds in the mid-70s.

"It's easy to say relax and be patient but this game can be very frustrating at times."

Drysdale, who missed out in the European International Final Qualifier at Sunningdale immediately after the BMW PGA Championship, has one last chance to secure a spot at St Andrews next week.

"A high finish this week or a win would get me in," he noted. "It would be great to be at St Andrews and live a boyhood dream of playing there in a British Open."

Winning at Loch Lomond will, of course, be a tall order but it's a course where the player who did his PGA training at Dunbar has done well in the past.

"Loch Lomond is a course where I've had some good rounds on, including a couple of 65s," said Drysdale. "Another reason I enjoy playing here is that I have a lot of friends and family watching me. That creates a good buzz and an event I always look froward to every year.

"It's a course that shouldn't really suit me as it's quite long and I'm not overly long and the fairways are pretty generous. It's a course I like playing and it's the iron shots that probably suit my eye more than anything else. I love it here.

"This tournament is a chance for me to kick-start the second half of the season. My main goal is to get in top 60 in Race to Dubai - that's been my goal all year.

"I also want to try and win a tournament. I had a great chance in India but I just haven't put msyelf in positions I did last year. It would be nice to put myself in a position to challenge at the weekend."

Meanwhile, Richie Ramsay, who now lives in East Lothian, has revealed he's set to make some significant changes over the winter as he bids to add to his South African Open success towards the end of last year.

"Nobody ever wins a tournament and says: 'I putted rubbish'," noted Ramsay ahead of his opening round at Loch Lomond. "They might say they didn't drive the ball that well but on the greens is where the key is.

"I've taken steps to change that and there will be some major changes in the winter, that will have a knock-on effect at the start of next year.

"There will be changes overall, with my mental preparation, my stroke - I can spend more time on them during the winter.

"I'm going to have to sacrifice little things here and there but, overall, if I'm successful on the golf course it won't matter."

"It would be nice to put myself in a position to challenge at the weekend"