Golfer Stephen Gallacher has told how he was hit by tragedy after his grandmother died just days after he was named in Europe's Ryder Cup team.
The Scot revealed he went from "Mount Everest to under the ground in the space of 10 minutes" after learning the news.
Milly Gallacher - the mother of golfing legend Bernard - had gone into hospital for a routine operation on a tumour in her throat. However, the tumour split during the procedure and the 84-year-old - also grandmother to TV star Kirsty Gallacher - died three days later.
Gallacher, 39, discovered she was gravely ill while giving television interviews after being named the only Scot in Paul McGinley's team to face America at Gleneagles later this month.
He said: "She had gone into hospital for a procedure on a tumour on her throat, but she was fine. She was in good spirits. Then the tumour split and she was in a lot of pain and I've gone from Mount Everest to under the ground in the space of 10 minutes. I had just been live on Sky with Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood giving an interview when I got the phone call.
"My granddad had passed away four years earlier and that was a hard four years for her. They'd been married for 60-odd years.
"I used to go to their house for lunch when I was going to school. My mum and dad worked so I was with them a lot. I was very, very close to them."
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