Richie Ramsay opens up on 'real tough weekend' after Scottish Open blow

Richie Ramsay is determined to use this week's Scottish Championship at Fairmont St Andrews to help him forget a "real tough weekend" following his last appearance on home soil.

Richie Ramsay tees off on the 15th hole during the first round of the of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the three-time European Tour winner when he missed the cut in the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, where he is based, after an opening 80.

That wasn't helped by him being in one of the first groups out and having to contend with some rough weather before the later starts enjoyed near-perfect conditions.

But it didn't stop Ramsay from doing some soul searching as he mulled over one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

"It was a real tough weekend where my head just wasn't in a good place and I questioned a lot of things I was doing, but realised that I needed to keep on doing what I was doing," he said.

"I was moving in the right direction. I spoke to my coach, Ian Rae, quite a bit, had quite a few phone calls with him and discussions over what we're doing with my swing and stuff. And then just put in some good work and tried to forget about Scottish Open and played really well last week."

That was reference to him having bounced back with a top-20 finish in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where he was the top Scot for the third year running.

"Momentum is such a big thing and confidence is such a big thing," added the Aberdonian, who now lives in Edinburgh with wife Angela and young daughter Olivia. "You’ve just got to be confident.

"You can't say, well every time I just play golf I’m going to be confident. Your attitude has got to be there all of the time. You can see it with form guys who get on little runs, and suddenly it’s top ten after top ten, or they’re in the mix. Belief and confidence is something that’s priceless in golf."

Ramsay is among 16 Scots in this week's field as the first European Tour event is staged at the Fife resort on the Torrance Course.

"The course is in really good condition," said Ramsay. "The greens are absolutely fantastic. For greens to be like this in the middle of October is almost unheard of.

"It’s like two different types of courses. The first eight holes are a little bit different - a little bit more space off the tee.

"But then, once you play on what I would say is the St Andrews side, you’ve got to hit it pretty straight, the rough is pretty thick.

"What you don’t realise is when you get an easterly breeze, there’s a lot of crosswinds. A lot of holes run towards St Andrews and then back towards Kingsbarns, so there’s a lot of cross winds.

"You have to shape shots and work the ball a little bit more than you usually would. It’s a little more old-fashioned golf where you have to work the ball, a bit more of seeing shots, a bit more artistry, rather than tee it high and let it fly. I would like to think I would do well in those conditions."

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