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THE 146TH OPEN

July 21, 2017

Richie Ramsay

Southport, England

RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, it was some of the best golf I've played this year, maybe in a few years. Just ball-striking, mainly. Especially the irons. The irons were just exceptional today. I didn't try to think of shots that I missed. I didn't miss that many. Maybe the fourth hole, where I got a gust of wind. I actually missed a few putts coming down the stretch. I made a nice one on 17 and also a lag putt on the last just off the green.

But just love being out there. It was brilliant. It's easy to say you're playing good golf. But I think with Rickie and Adam and Paul Casey playing in front of us and also Kooch doing well, the atmosphere around the green and the amphitheatre and plenty of claps with nice shots into the greens.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: I'll watch it a bit this afternoon. Olivia will probably want me to read some books this afternoon, as well, so I'll be doing that, as well.

But just -- it's happened to me before, I've kind of gone off kilter when I've gotten into contention, and I just need to stick to my game plan. My mission statement is to be the best I can be. And I did that today very well. And I'll try to do that tomorrow and give a hundred per cent. And what will be, you never know, but we try and believe and be as confident as possible.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: You know, I felt quite comfortable over the shots. It was tough with the gusting wind, but the putting was -- the putting was really tricky. I mean, I remember 13 I left a little chip short and I've got about six feet and everything is telling me it's downhill, right to left, and the wind is coming from my back. And I don't know if the wind comes in there and swirls, but I hit the putt and it's going straight right, and it didn't even look close to going in the hole.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Well, yeah, it was -- what happened on 16, Matt looked like he had a great putt and it dived right really sharp. It's just really tough to putt it there. That's one of the trickiest thing, when the ball is not oscillating, but when you have a putt and you have to factor in the wind you're sort of second-guessing yourself sometimes.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, I'm not going to lie, it's pretty cool, isn't it? You sort of -- you grow up and you've got a ten-foot on the green to win The Open and fortunately I'm in a position to compete for it, which is something I probably haven't done over the last few years. And I feel like I needed to do to sort of tick the box, I wanted to do so I can compete with the best in the world in a major. I feel like I've done that the first two days. Whether I do that over the next two days, I really don't know, but I'll just give a hundred percent, like I say, try and pick off my shots and like I say, try and be the best I can be and sort of take it from there.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: I don't really want to focus on that at the moment. I just want to focus on trying to execute my shots, because I know that like today, I played it one shot at a time, I picked off the shots. I committed to everything that I hit today. And the end result was good. So, again, it's trying to keep in the moment, stick to the process and try and be -- and just be positive and believe and accept maybe some bad bounces and stuff when they come.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, it was good. It's just very, very calm. And the short game, he chipped in on 3 and then he made a long putt on 4. And that makes a huge difference, two to three shots over one round, just like that, just making little sparks here and there make a difference.

It was great to play with Ryan, as well. He's a really nice guy and in good form. It was a good three-ball and lots of crowds out there and just enjoyed it. Just enjoy competing with the best guys in the world.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, I won't say I'm overly keen on the rain. When it's breezy I know that -- I feel that I've got a little edge. I feel like I have the shots in the tank to be successful out there. And I think probably more so on this golf course than any other golf course because of the direction of the holes constantly changing. You can't just have one shot around here. You can't just hit it left to right and just hope you'll be okay. You've got to hold up into the breeze and work it. And that's what my two clubs have taught me, really.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, I remember watching. I think he birdied 17 in the playoff. I remember watching that vividly. And I remember the 4-iron he had on 18, which was an incredible shot under arguably the biggest pressure and the hardest golf you're ever going to play for a major. So it was definitely something that I noticed and picked up on and used that as motivation for me to do well. But I was probably only 16 at the time. So I still had a long way to go.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Well, I think for me anytime I travel, anytime I play I kind of -- you're representing your country, which is a big thing. Having the yellow board it stands out. And there's myself, Stevie, Scott Jamieson, Marc Warren are trying to make the next step, which is to become the top-50 players and contend in big events. And if it's me, great. If it's not me or Marc or Stevie or David Drysdale, I think everybody appreciates the fact that they like to see (indiscernible) on the board and everybody is proud of where they come from.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, a couple of guys are down, a couple of sponsors are down today and a couple of friends from Kingsfield down, so it was nice to see them. And nice to play well in front of them. You see them week in and week out. And good just to sort of have them down and show them what you're capable of.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: It's probably calmed me down a bit. I probably -- I definitely don't take things for granted as much. I'm a little bit more patient. Olivia teaches me a lot. And I think it settles you down as a person. It kind of takes your mind off probably playing golf. Like when I was younger I definitely thought too much. I was very like one-dimensional. If golf wasn't going well, things weren't going well. But now I kind of try and set golf aside and when I come around the corner -- like last week, I had a bit of a bad finish and I walked in the players' lounge and Olivia caught me from about 20 yards away, and hands went up and a smile on the face, and that just cheers you up. It's brilliant. When she smiles, I smile.

It's a great feeling having her here this week and giving a huge perspective. She's about 16 months now.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: No, just the pressure from your questions (laughter).

No, I think we're all very driven and we all probably apply our own pressure. We know that there's a kind of -- there's a void, we want to fill it. I think there's a good crop of young guys I mentioned. Grant has huge potential. I think you're seeing that already on the Challenge Tour. I think Bradley Neil is playing well. It's good to see guys coming in behind us. We just need to push on and make sure we've got guys at every level in the professional ranks. And if you can have that one guy that's the top, there's no doubt that it drags everybody with them, not just the professionals but the kids who are watching the golf on the TV and they notice that.

Q. (Inaudible.)
RICHIE RAMSAY: Yeah, that was a long drive. I remember that. You guys will know I'm notorious for falling asleep everywhere. But I drove from Lytham back to Edinburgh for four hours, and never stopped sleeping and that was because it was sort of a mixture of being upset and frustrated. But, yeah, I think I said before I've ticked one of those boxes to mix with the top guys in the world over two days in a major championship and that's something that -- I'm just proud of. It's not easy to do. It's taken years to work out. And I just need to continue what I've done over the last two days and it would be great to be in a position of just being in contention on Sunday.

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