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DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN HOSTED BY THE RORY FOUNDATION

July 9, 2017

Richie Ramsay

Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Q. 2-under through ten holes and then 6-under for seven.
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, it was a funny one, you get to one of those points where you just see birdies. That's all I could do. It was great playing with Scotty. We were pushing each other on and that definitely made a difference. I just got to the point where I was like, let's just go for it.

You only get these chances once every so often. Saw Rahm was making a few birdies, and a little bit disappointed on the last, but the great thing was I played to win. That's kind of what I've learned over the last sort of ten years being a pro.

Q. 6-under for seven holes and you're not really making any progress because Jon Rahm is matching you shot for shot. What's going through your mind when you're seeing what he was doing?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, took a look at the leaderboard and wondered if that was a mistake or not. He was running away with it. I've thought a few times about all the different things that's going to happen to you if you play well, but then I just said, you know what, just execute shot by shot. It's an old saying but it works.

And yeah, just really pleased. It's been coming for a long, long time, and just really happy that I got to do it here, because Ireland has been a special place for me. It's somewhere I love coming back to. The crowds are fantastic and Portstewart as a course is an incredible place to play.

Q. Looks likely you'll get one of Open spots. Were you aware or had you totally forgotten?
RICHIE RAMSAY: I knew there was spots but it had totally gone from my mind. Like I say, I was that focused on what I was doing, which is great to have, but it's a massive bonus. Obviously qualified last year in Scotland. It's a golf course that I know. I've played the British Amateur there, one of my favourites to play. Just happy that I got to finish really high in a big tournament. All the hard work with Ian Rae, Graham Walker and Phil Kenyon, and I'm just looking forward to getting home and giving Olivia a big hug because I haven't seen her in two weeks. That's the biggest thing.

Q. Fantastic final round to elevate you up the leaderboard, potential Open Championship place at the moment, so all in all you must be very pleased with your day's work.
RICHIE RAMSAY: Massively pleased. It was a sort of tough last few weeks missing the cut in France but I hung around over the weekend and grinded and worked hard. I'm a big believer that if you work hard, success will come.

This year, it's taken a little longer than it should do but I've managed to get there in the end. It was great to play and play to win. Jon is obviously playing some fantastic golf out there and there's a little bit of a logjam at 17.

So I need to keep the foot down and make some birdies. A little bit disappointed with the last hole but I played to wind and that's a great focus out there and great belief in myself that I can actually go out there and chase down such a big tournament like The Irish Open.

Q. Fantastic eagle on 14 and great putt, a hole you've eagled two days in a row?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, those par 5s, you're looking at them thinking, if I can go birdie, birdie -- and I managed to just hole that eagle putt with a 5-iron into the green and make a couple more. It's just a course that I really, really enjoy. I played Portrush, which is fantastic, one of my favourites, Royal County Down, but Portstewart is up there.

Probably nine of the best holes you'll find anywhere, and the back nine is very solid. And to do it at an Irish Open with fantastic crowds and probably under the conditions we had today, which weren't that easy, especially the front nine, very proud of myself.

Q. What's pleased you most about the game overall this week?
RICHIE RAMSAY: Mental game. I've been very solid off the tee, solid on the greens. But when I got to halfway today, I was like, let's keep the foot to the floor. Let's try to keep on making birdies, and I genuinely believe that if I could maybe get one on the last. Just put a little bit of pressure there, which might test him out a little bit. So just the belief that I can go out there and win a huge tournament.

You practise all the time and I took that and said, let's go out there and enjoy it. And like I say, I really enjoyed the golf course, which probably made the score come to fruition a little bit easier.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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