We should be in for a fun week back at St Andrews for the Hero Open.
The stands are still up from the Open and of course we have a defending champion from Scotland in Grant Forrest.
When Grant won last year Calum Hill went on to make it back to back Scottish wins on tour by winning the Cazoo Classic a week later.
With the tournaments reversed in the schedule this year, Richie Ramsay has kept the Cazoo Classic in Scottish hands with an outstanding effort at Hillside on Sunday and I would not bet against another home win this weekend at Fairmont.
Richie’s win was fantastic to see. He was four shots back with seven holes to play and I thought he had given it a good go but all of a sudden the path to victory opened for him and he took it.
He finished three under par for the last five holes and while some will look at the fact Julien Guerrier let his lead slip on the closing stretch it is doing Richie a disservice to ignore his finish.
Richie won the event, and needed to hole those crucial putts to do so and you could see how much it meant to him.
He was pumped up at winning for the first time in seven years and he had every justification in being emotional.
It’s tough to win out here and you should never take it for granted.
I know how hard Richie works and how much he wanted to win for his daughter Olivia, who is six.
She wasn’t born the last time Richie won in 2015 and wanting to put that right is something which has fuelled Richie’s drive and determination.
He has had a tough couple of weeks too after being forced to pull out of the Scottish Open due to illness.
I know how disappointed he was at having to sit The Renaissance Club out but what better way to mark your return than by winning the trophy?
It has been a great few weeks for Scottish golf with David Law’s dramatic qualification for what was a legendary Open championship at St Andrews followed by Richie’s win.
We still have the Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links to look forward to this week and the Women’s Open at Muirfield next week to come.
It truly has been a great summer showcase for our courses – and our players.
The 2⃣9⃣9⃣ Yard Challenge is back! @DavidLawGolf 🆚 @connor_syme @ScottishOpen 🏴 pic.twitter.com/gBzTrL9b30
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 26, 2022
Class act Clarke a fitting Senior Open winner at Gleneagles
I can’t let this week pass without giving Darren Clarke his due for winning an incredible Senior Open at Gleneagles.
I know Craig Haldane, the golf courses manager at Gleneagles, well and he and his team did an unbelievable job in working on the course to ensure the final round could be completed after a deluge of rain.
A two-hour break in play must have been stressful for all concerned but Craig and his team were incredible in getting the squeegees out to clear away the water.
Honestly, there must have been about 100 people on the course trying to clear the excess water away.
Darren took it all in his stride though to hold off a fierce closing stretch from Padraig Harrington.
Padraig birdied four of his last five holes to put the pressure on but Darren responded brilliantly to secure victory at the final hole.
What a win it is too as he joins illustrious company. With his win on Sunday Darren joins Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson as the only men in history to win both the Open and Senior Open.
That’s quite a fourball if you ask me but no less than Darren deserves. He is a class player.
I was happy just to see Gleneagles being given the praise it deserves. It is the course which got me into golf and I can remember watching my uncle Bernard playing there in the old Bell’s Scottish Open back in the day.
It’s also where I played my first event as a professional in 1993. It is a perfect test for senior golf and it looked amazing despite all the rain.
Legal wrangling has cast a shadow over the Ryder Cup
A week has passed since the drama of Henrik Stenson being relieved of the captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team but we still do not know what the future holds.
I was convinced we had to name a replacement quickly following Henrik’s decision to join LIV Golf but I spoke to vice-captain Eddie Molinari at the weekend and he believed we still have plenty of time on this.
The elephant in the room right now is not the vacant captain’s position but the uncertainty about whether the DP World Tour can ban members from playing on its tour if they take part in a LIV event.
Sergio Garcia was going to resign from our tour but has delayed that move until the court has made a decision.
If it is deemed players can be fined but cannot be prevented from taking part then I fully expect Sergio to be happy with that and play his minimum number of DP World Tour events to ensure he remains eligible for selection.
If players can be banned then his dream of playing in another Ryder Cup is dead in the water. If that is the case I fully expect we won’t see him on our tour again.
But for now, we’re all stuck in a holding pattern and it’s not a particularly pleasant one.
