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ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT PAUL LAWRIE MATCH PLAY

August 4, 2016

Richie Ramsay

East Lothian, Scotland

Q. You've beaten David Howell, a Ryder Cup player and experienced match player, I imagine that feels pretty good.
RICHIE RAMSAY: It does. Obviously a very dangerous player and pretty deadly putter when he gets going. You've always got to keep your foot on the gas. Paid me back and managed to just hole a nice one at the end there to finish it.

Q. As you say, you were 3-up at one stage and got it back to one. What's going through your mind at that stage?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Just play my own game. Just give myself opportunities. I didn't really hole anything, and I thought, if I can just keep on giving myself nice looks at the hole, I would get a look at birdie. I played steady and managed to get one at the end.

Yeah, just stay patient. Just don't change the game plan. I drove the ball great. It was in the middle of pretty much every fairway. So I had good looks at the flag and yeah, just stayed patient.

Q. Scottish Open, you were telling us you had been tentative on the course and trying to be more committed. In this format, is that even more important?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, definitely, because I think you just apply the pressure more. My tee-to-green game is very good. A couple loose iron shots today but apart from that, it was really solid. I'm trying to get, as you say, a little bit more committed to my shots and I did that coming down the stretch, which was nice, because you've got to do that under pressure. That's the real test.

Q. How would you describe your confidence level after a good Scottish Open?
RICHIE RAMSAY: I would say quietly confident. I think my belief has grown. I played some great stuff today. I just need to hole a few more putts. It's a course I know and it's an area I know really well. I love East Lothian. It's a beautiful place. Enjoying this week. A really good setup here, got people out watching, and a very good field.

Q. How valuable is the knowledge of the course if you know it well?
RICHIE RAMSAY: It is, I think the distance ball goes is key. When it gets a little cooler here and the wind gets up, you'd be surprised how short the ball goes, and that plays into my hands.

Q. Who is on the bag this week?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Fidgeon is on the bag, but they are going to sort of job share. Colin's got some sort of commitments over the next few -- and Fidgeon caddied for me in Germany, as well, and he work in Queenwood, as well. He does some work at Queenwood, and I said to him, I really like Colin, I got along really well with Colin. And I just said to Nick, would you be open to doing that.

It's something that I haven't really thought about. But I think it could -- I don't think it's going to hurt. I think it's only going to be positives and something fresh. So just going to do a few weeks each till the end of the year and see how that plays out.

But I think it's worked well. We were good out there today. I didn't hole anything all day, and obviously a great putt to finish, because 5-foot, 6-foot left for Howler, but you wouldn't say he's an ordinary putter.

Q. Nice to win it that way.
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, it was sort of a clutch way to win it down the stretch. I think I just need to play the way I did today a little bit more committed on some longer shots. But I drove the ball ridiculous. It was in the middle of every fairway, so that's a big advantage.

Q. Semifinalist last year, Ryder Cup experience. Good guy to take out.
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, it's funny, you look at the draw this year, obviously got the seeds in there. But there's a lot of guys who are really, really good players who are not seeded, like Thomas is a great example of that. He's playing Matt.

I think someone said to me, there's 64 guys but there's 41 European Tour winners in the field or something like that. So anybody can win a Tour title, can play under pressure and can perform, so there's no easy games out there.

Q. Starting to plod away to the final yet?
RICHIE RAMSAY: It's just a clichÃ©. Just got to play my own game really. I just try and play the course and pick off the shots that suit me. I know if I do that, I'll be quite consistent and give myself good looks. If I play my own game and I lose, and I play well, I can't do anything about that. It's when you start chasing and changing things because your opponent is doing something else. So I just try and stay in my kind of zone and just do my own thing.

Q. How often do you play here?
RICHIE RAMSAY: I've played five or six times a year. One of my friends plays here. We played down here last Thursday and had a good laugh. Got a better feel for the course and clubs off tees and how sometimes you're in trees, you can't feel it, but you know the wind's there, which was helpful. Yeah, just took it slow, nine holes Monday, nine holes Tuesday, Pro-Am yesterday.

Yeah, game feels really good. Looking forward to a couple weeks off after this and then a long run. So be nice to get some sort of training and just some time at home and then really step it up, because that's when The Race to Dubai, that's when you start fighting for places.

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