WHEN the Open at Birkdale birls round again, those of a Scottish persuasion tend to trot out a fairly parochial golfing quiz question.
Who finished fourth alongside Jim Furyk, Jesper Parnevik and Justin Rose in the 1998 championship?
The fact his surname is written up in the headline of this article gives you a sizeable clue but there are still often a few eye-brows raised when you say the name Raymond Russell.
The Prestonpans man signed off from his week in Southport with a closing 66 to finish just two strokes behind eventual winner, Mark O’Meara.
It was the best score of the day, equalled only by a certain Tiger Woods, who would finish third.
Russell, who had captured his one and only European Tour title two year before this sizeable major moment, took home a cheque for a almost £77,000. Champagne and caviar all round then? Not quite.
“I was living in the Midlands at the time and was heading off to the Dutch Open the next day so I just picked up a takeaway that night,” recalled Russell, who is now 44 and still has his finger in a variety of golfing pies.
“I didn’t really celebrate that finish at all which, in hindsight, was a bit of a mistake.”
You’ve got to enjoy the highs when they come along in this capricious pursuit. Injury and illness would severely impact Russell’s career in later years but in 1998 he was riding high.
While Scotland’s tetchy talisman, Colin Montgomerie, missed the cut at Birkdale, Russell roared on.
“What I do really remember is being on the 11th tee on the Sunday and looking across the whole course and seeing the stands and all the people and thinking to myself ‘this is what playing golf is all about’,” said the Scot who posted a 75 during the third round which was played out in typically boisterous links conditions.
Given that the likes of Phil Mickelson ballooned to an 85 during a tumultuous Saturday of play, the damage could have been much worse.
“I wasn’t too disheartened with my 75 as the weather was terrible,” reasoned Russell. “I knew I was being patient on the course and so it was a case of more of the same really going into the last day.
“The first time I looked at the leaderboard was with nine holes to go on the final day.”
He was still very much in the title hunt but in this game of fine margins, there are always the what ifs and what might have beens.
“I felt very calm all week and that continued all the way through the last round,” he said.
“I do remember getting a good bounce off a banking to the par-3, 12th which rolled down to about about 12 to 15 feet. I hit a great putt and I still don’t know how it didn’t go in.
“If I holed that and put in a strong finish we might have had chance.”
A year after Russell’s rise, Paul Lawrie would win the Open at Carnoustie but we’ve not had a Scot in the top-10 of the championship since Monty was second in 2005.
A repeat of Russell’s 1998 effort by the current contingent at Birkdale this week would probably be celebrated with something more stronger than a takeaway.
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