Richie Ramsay joins the Life on Tour podcast this week after claiming his fourth DP World tour title at the Cazoo Classic.
Speaking to Ewan Porter from his home in Scotland, Ramsay gives us an in-depth insight into his career.
Throughout the podcast, Ramsay recounts taking up golf, becoming the first British born winner of the U.S. Amateur in almost 100 years and playing beside Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open.
Here’s some of the things we learned from this week’s podcast, and you can click here to listen to the full episode.
LISTEN HERE
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WHAT WE LEARNED
Getting into golf
Growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ramsay was massively into football, being a big fan of his local side Aberdeen. “I wanted to become a footballer,” Ramsay admitted. “But as you get older, you realise there’s a lot of people much better at football than I was."
Ramsay’s grandfather, a former RAF pilot, introduced the young Scot to golf from a very young age, and would take him out onto the golf course with his dog Ranza, who had the ability to sniff out a golf ball from the trees.
"It got to the point when at the age of 14 or 15, I finished runner up for the Scottish under-16s, and I realised I could actually win if I applied myself more. That’s where things begun to take off for me. I would go to the gym at lunch time, take a packed lunch with me, and I would go there whilst all the other kids and my friends were playing,” said Ramsay.
“The way I looked at it was I will do whatever it takes to give me the best chance. Even if it means sacrificing time with my friends or going out, I was willing to take that.”
Winning the US Amateur at Hazeltine in 2006
Richie Ramsay became the first British born winner of the U.S. Amateur in almost 100 years when he claimed victory in 2006.
“It was a golf course that set up really well for me that week, it was a really tough set up,” he said. “If you missed a fairway, you had to wedge out. I felt my game was peaking at just the right time.”
_Ramsay felt that the pressure of playing in front of TV cameras for one of the first times, as well as a crowd of 5,000, helped him in his quest to claim the coveted title.
“I loved that atmosphere, talk about pressure! Under the gun I played great, I think I missed three fairways in 34 holes and about four greens,” he added._ “From a match play perspective, I pressurised him and pressurised him. When you see the trophy and the names, it dawns on you what’s going on but it’s a very cool thing to have.”
Ramsay has always had strong self-belief, and that helped get him over the line at Hazeltine, adding: “Belief is a huge thing, when you’re mentally in the right place and believe you can do something, there is no limit.”
Making his Masters debut
As a result of winning the 2006 U.S. Amateur, Ramsay qualified for the 2007 Masters at Augusta National. One of the toughest fields to qualify for in golf.
“I was really lucky,” Ramsay said.
“They sent me all the information and asked what I’d like to do. I was going out to the United States in January, so I got to go to Augusta for five days and managed to play every day. It was unbelievable.”
With a few months to go until The Masters began, Ramsay made the most of theopportunity to learn all aspects of the course and get to grips with it all.
“I was playing balls to all the slopes just as I’d have seen on TV,” he said. “I hit shots from everywhere you could imagine, to get an idea of how to access all the different pins. I was just getting the chance to understand the green complexes. I spent pretty much five-six hours a day on the golf course, so when I got there for The Masters I knew it inside out. It’s a magical place the only place in the world where I’ve gone with a really high expectation level, but it still blew me away.”
Playing with Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods at the US Open
As is customary, the winner of the U.S. Amateur plays the first two rounds alongside the defending champion of the U.S. Open and in 2007 at Oakmont Ramsay was drawn beside Geoff Ogilvy, who won at Winged Foot the year prior, and World Number One Tiger Woods.
“I mean I was playing with Tiger,” he said. “I had never seen the guy in real life before. It was pretty daunting. Played the first round, I played okay, threw away some silly shots.”
After an opening round 78, Ramsay was determined to get off to best off starts from the tenth tee in round two.
“I hit this great drive but it fell into the rough, I hacked it and leave gap wedge in,” he continued. “I hit it to about 15 feet and I three putt… I make six on the first hole. There’s like a 200 yard walk through to the 11th tee through trees, I’m lagging behind them after making double bogey, my caddie gone ahead of me and I’m swinging the putter, and I’m like this is not a good idea having the putter in my hand as I just want to throw it away.”
“There was a portaloo halfway down the walkway and there was nobody around, and I just rattled this portaloo with this putter, and I keep walking down the path towards the next hole, and as I walk up to the tee, I look up and see Squirrel (Ogilvy’s caddie), Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Williams, my caddie and no Tiger Woods, and I’m like ‘Oh F*’. He walks up behind us, looks our way, and I’m at the back trying to hide behind my caddie because I’ve absolutely rattled this portaloo and he must’ve been inside, as it was a players only portaloo, and got the shock of his life. After that I tried to keep my distance, and stay in the background. He never mentioned it, but there was a glance but he was okay. He looked at me like I know that was you."
Disturbing Tiger in a portaloo at the U.S. Open 😂 🚾@RamsayGolf joins the Life on Tour Podcast as he reflects on his return to the winners circle 🏆
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 10, 2022
Winning his fourth DP World Tour title
Ramsay claimed his fourth Tour title at the 2022 Cazoo Classic at Hillside Golf Club in Southport, ending a seven year wait for a return to the winner’s circle. He went into the UK Swing feeling confident as he had history and knowledge of the courses.
“Hillside Golf Club and Fairmont St Andrews (host venue of the Hero Open) were the last two weeks of links golf, which is where I tend to do well,” he added. “I said to someone, without trying to sound arrogant, those are courses I could win on.”
“I had played Hillside since I was 16 on and off, and when I arrived there I felt comfortable. I felt I didn’t need to hit a lot of balls, the ground was firm and fast, you really had to think your way around the golf course. I knew the golf course before I got there, I knew the holes. So there’s an element of being like ‘right, I’ll hit it here’ and ‘right, I don’t attack that pin’. I had a game plan, and it puts you at ease when you play a course that many times.”
Ramsay went into the final round one shot back from leader Julien Guerrier, but the Scot was confident that on the back nine his experience would give him an edge.
“Every hole on the back nine at Hillside the pressure is going to ramp up, and every time I hit a good shot the pressure was going to be on him,” he continued. “I felt comfortable in that environment. I think the golf course helped me form the view point that with every tee shot on that back nine there’s an element of pressure, and there’s not really a tee shot that runs in the same direction. So when you’re changing wind direction, you need to be able to shape it, and that plays into my hands. I love that. I love Sunday, back nine, last group, I want the pressure to be on, I want the chance to be able to hit a shot when people are watching. That’s what I train for, those moments.”
