Ramsay reigns in Swiss mountains

Rich pickings: Scots star Ramsay holds aloft the European Masters trophy after his win in Switzerland

European Masters victory for Richie secures back-to-back Scottish wins

Richie Ramsay showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels to win his second European Tour title at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland – and, in doing so, he made it back-to-back Scottish wins on the circuit following fellow Aberdonian Paul Lawrie’s win in last week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

Ramsay, 29, followed up his tie for sixth at Gleneagles with a fantastic four-shot win at Crans-Sur-Sierre in the Swiss mountains, beating Marcus Fraser, Fredrik Andersson Hed, Romain Wattel and Danny Willett into second place.

Starting the final round with a one-shot lead over Lawrie, Ramsay had five birdies in a blemish-free front nine to give himself a comfortable cushion heading into the home straight.

A bogey at the 13th was countered by an eagle at 14 and though he bogeyed the 17th, he held his nerve to seal the win with a par on the final hole.

In doing so, Ramsay – whose previous European Tour title came in the South African Open in 2009 – moved into the top 100 of the world rankings and climbed to 20th on the Race To Dubai.

He also made it consecutive wins for Scottish players on the tour for the first time since 2001.

Afterwards, Ramsay revealed that staying patient was the key to his success.

“My game plan was just to play the golf course,” he said. “It was going to be difficult, Paul is a fantastic player and Danny is a great up-and-coming player, too, but I couldn’t get sucked in to what they were doing.

“I just said to myself to go out and play the golf course as though I was playing with my two best mates and that’s what I did. I managed to stay patient and the final putt felt so, so good. You can’t buy that feeling.”

An emotional Ramsay also paid tribute to his fiancée Angela as he got his hands on the trophy. The couple got engaged at the start of this year and are due to marry in three weeks’ time at Hazeltine where they met and where Ramsay won the US Amateur Championship in 2006.

Choking back tears, Ramsay said: “She’s been the backbone behind my game and has always been there to support me. Hopefully, this win will be a nice early wedding present for her!”

Whilst Ramsay took the plaudits, Lawrie was left to ponder what might have been. An eagle at the first drew him level with Ramsay but bogeys at three, four, ten and eleven derailed his hopes of successive wins. He ultimately finished in a tie for sixth.

Lawrie’s attentions will now surely turn to the Ryder Cup at Medinah in four weeks’ time where he will make his second appearance for Europe.

DID YOU KNOW?

The last back-to-back Scottish wins on the European Tour came in 2001. Colin Montgomerie’s win in the Murphy’s Irish Open came hot on the heels of Andrew Coltart’s Great North Open victory.

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered