Stephen Gallacher boosts Cup hopes

Stephen Gallacher has taken another massive step towards making this year’s European Ryder Cup team after finishing in a tie for sixth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

The back-to-back Dubai Desert Classic champion closed with a three-under-par 69 at Doral to force his way into a three-way share of sixth, a result that saw him climb two places on the Official World Golf Rankings to 37th and secure his place in next month’s Masters Tournament.

He also banked a cheque for just over €182,000 to climb to seventh on the Race To Dubai but, perhaps most importantly, he consolidated his position within the top ten of both the European and World Points Lists for this year’s Ryder Cup.

Qualifying for tournaments such as the Masters will give him the best opportunity to force his way into Paul McGinley’s team automatically but the Bathgate man insists that he is doing all he can to distance himself from thoughts of being part of the action at Gleneagles this September.

“It’s been a good experience for me” – Stephen Gallacher

“I’ve still got six, seven months to go for that,” said Gallacher after putting the finishing touches to a fine week in Miami. “It all helps I’m just not even thinking about that. I was just concentrating on trying to do as well as I could this week to try and stay in the top 50 for the Masters.”

Gallacher, who was eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship by Ernie Els and then narrowly missed the cut in the Honda Classic, partly attributed his improved display at Doral to a new driver. “I’ve been driving the ball good but got a new one and it’s been great,” he noted.

Despite his mixed fortunes, Gallacher added he was pleased on the whole with his three weeks’ work in the US on what he described as ‘three tough courses’.

“It’s been a good experience for me,” he said. “It was the first time I’d played a PGA event and it was only my second time playing the two WGCs, so it was a great experience.”

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor