Winning at any level of this game ain’t easy.
Whether you’re chasing major moments on the main tours or going for glory with your better half in the Husband & Wife Mixed Greensomes at Pumpherston, the sensation of success always stirs the senses.
Gemma Dryburgh is well aware of that. The 28-year-old Scot tees-up in today's Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links with a spring in her step having won a third title on the Rose Ladies Series last week.
The flourishing mini-circuit was set up last year by former US Open champion Justin Rose and his wife Kate to give playing opportunities to female golfers who had their schedules ravaged by the on-set of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dryburgh has certainly made the most of the chance. She won back-to-back events on the tour last season and her latest win a few days ago has emboldened her spirit.
“It doesn’t really matter where you win,” said the LPGA Tour campaigner, who managed a career-best sixth place finish on the world’s strongest women’s circuit in last season’s LPGA Drive On Championship. “It’s the same feeling. You get those nerves on the tee and on the putts as well. It’s always great to get the job done.
“Last year, my wins on the Rose Series gave me momentum into the LPGA Tour and helped me get my best finish there. I won last week and hopefully I can bring the momentum here too. It would mean so much to play well at home.”
Dumbarnie Links only opened for business just over a year ago and is already hosting a championship of considerable significance. It’s so new, you half expect to find bubble wrap sellotaped to the tee markers but this is a development with roots going back some 25 years and the natural linksland has provided a wonderful golfing canvas. “It’s a great piece of land, “added Dryburgh after a first perusal of the course designed by renowned architect and former Ryder Cup player Clive Clark. “There’s a really good mix of holes.”
There’s a good bit of walking to do too on this golfing expanse. What impact that will have on pace of play remains to be seen but, after her outspoken assessments of the slow coaches in last year’s event at The Renaissance, defending champion Stacy Lewis is not going to remain tight-lipped on the subject this week either.
“When I came out on tour, I would say there were a handful of slow players and now there's a handful of fast players,” said the 36-year-old American, whose impressive body of work on Scottish soil also includes victory in the Women’s Open at St Andrews in 2013. “I would like to see if an official is there and you take too long, you should get (penalised) shots. When you start penalising with shots, then that affects where you are on the leaderboard, it affects how much money you're making, it affects your status at the end of the year. That affects things a lot more than a $1,000 fine does. I'm okay with it and I'd like to see more of it. As a tour, I think we need to make this game more enjoyable. With Covid, we could potentially be losing people coming to tournaments, losing eyeballs watching us, and I would like to see us be at the forefront of making the game faster.”
Lewis is one of many star attractions in the field this week and is joined in the line-up by golf’s most recently crowned major champion, Minjee Lee.
The 25-year-old Australian won the Evian Championship at the end of July and competed in last week’s Olympic event. Lee has a decent record in Scotland and was second in the Scottish Open in 2018 while posting a couple of top-10s in the Women’s Open at Turnberry and Troon.
Her younger brother, Min Woo, has already earned some family silver in the home of golf by winning last month’s Scottish Open. Presumably, then, the prospect of a double is driving Lee’s assault? “I didn't think about it until you said it,” she said with a chuckle.
Lee’s first major win, after a couple of near misses, has given her a fresh approach. “It was like getting a monkey off the back,” she added. “I had a lot of expectations that I put on myself and I feel like I can play a bit more freely now."
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