This was an exercise in damage limitation. From an original entry of 12, the tartan army was savagely decimated on day two as only three made the cut. Yesterday, a couple of those remaining members, namely Stephen Gallacher and Duncan Stewart, were left hirpling along and nursing heavy wounds but Richie Ramsay avoided any serious savagings on the frontline of Dundonald.
“All in all, I’m reasonably happy to get in relatively unscathed,” said Ramsay after adding a level-par 72 to his tally for a two-under 214 as he finished on the fringes of the leading 20.
While sevens, eights and nines were being woefully scribbled down on a few cards, Ramsay kept it reasonably tidy on a backs-to-the-wall kind of day.
“The only hole I took my waterproof jacket off was on the 18th, it just wouldn’t relent,” said Ramsay of the fearsome downpours. “This kind of weather is part and parcel of the Scottish Open.”
Ramsay’s spirited round was bookended by birdies at the first and 18th. A quartet of bogeys prevented him dipping into the red figures for his round but on a day like this, par was always going to see him make some kind of dent on the standings and by the end of it he had clambered up eight places.
Ramsay enjoys a good battle and, like a solid clump of granite, the Aberdonian stood firm. “It was one of those days just to get the head down,” added the three time tour champion who earned his place in next week’s Open by finishing second in the Irish Open last weekend. “I just stuck in there and used that grim Scottish determination to get through it. This was as tough as it’s been on the tour for a while. There were a few hard holes in Ireland last week with the weather but this was pretty tough going. I can out now on the final day and give it my all again. A nice number on the final day will make the drive down to Birkdale that bit better.”
Gallacher and Stewart were both harbouring outside hopes of nabbing one of the three remaining Open places up for grabs but those ambitions were drowned and battered in the rain and wind.
Stewart’s round finished with a wretched double-bogey on the 18th as he signed for a 78 which left the Grantown man on a three-over aggregate. He was joined on that mark by Gallacher who toiled to a 79 and slithered down 43 places.
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