Better late than never eh? Richie Ramsay wasn’t even in the BMW PGA Championship field until last Sunday night when he moved up off the reserve list and onto the draw for the European Tour’s flagship event.

He was, in fact, the last man into the line-up but, my goodness, he’s making the most of the opportunity here at Wentworth.

On another day when the sun shone, the mercury inched up and the crowds came flocking in their droves, Ramsay revelled in the big occasion and a five-under 67 for a 10-under aggregate left him in a share of sixth place, five shots behind the joint leaders Jon Rahm and Danny Willett, heading into the closing round.

The Indian summer may be coming to an end today with heavy rain looming ominously on the forecast but Ramsay is still hoping those sodden clouds will have a silver lining. The 36-year-old Aberdonian was so buoyant after handing in his card, the golf writers just about had to slap on the Ambre Solaire to protect themselves from the rays of his beaming grin

Glasgow Times:

“It was just a brilliant day and a joy to be out there,” he gushed. “Birkdale (in the 2017 Open) was the most fun I’ve had on a golf course, but in a European Tour event, that today was as good as it could get. A world-class field, a ton of people out there, glorious sunshine and a course playing how you’d probably want it.”

A bogey on his first hole, where he missed a short putt, was swiftly rectified and having reached the turn in one-under, Ramsay upped the ante on the inward half and reeled off four birdies to bolster his assault.

His iron play, in particular, on that profitable stretch was terrific. “When I was hitting them, they sounded great,” he said of this music to a golfer’s ear. “I was just crunching my irons and I felt they were almost going a club further."

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The last time Ramsay was in the thick of things going into the final day was at Hillside back in May when he eventually finished fifth in the British Masters.

“I’ve just go out and do what I’ve been doing,” said the three-time European Tour winner of his approach during the closing round. “If you do the right things, irrespective of whether it’s golf or life, good things are going to happen.

“If I do what I did today, I’ll be there. And if you can get in there on the back nine, then the pressure gets turned on and I love that. I just want to get in that mix.”

Ramsay would not have got a place in the field this week had Sergio Garcia not won the KLM Open last weekend. Garcia edged out Danish youngster Nicolai Hojgaard, who would have earned a place at Wentworth had he triumphed instead.

“It’s crazy that I was last man in and maybe it’s a bit of good karma,” added Ramsay. “If I can have a good finish, I will need to shake Sergio’s hand and maybe buy him a couple of drinks.”

At the top of the order, Rahm, the world No 6, holed a 20-footer on the last to salvage a par as he stumbled to the line. The Spaniard was in command after 16 holes but when he missed a tiddler for his par on the 17th, he toiled his way up the 18th and nearly went out of bounds but limited any damage with a putt of authority.

The vigorous fist-pump underlined the importance of the moment as his 68 left him on 15-under. “Besides the last two holes, the rest of the round was almost bulletproof,” said Rahm.

“It was not the finish I was looking for. I might have lost a bit of focus, looking into the future instead of staying in the present but it doesn’t take away from how solidly I played when the wind was bad and when I still had a fourth shot into the last with a six iron and didn’t drop a shot.”

Willett, meanwhile, produced a heroic escape from the trees on the 15th to keep the debris there to a bogey before grabbing a birdie on the 18th to stay level-pegging with Rahm. “I’ve won all around the world but never here (the UK) so that would be amazing,” said the former Masters champion.

Willett and Rahm have a three shot lead over Shubhankar Sharma and Justin Rose, who was left to rue a six on the last after making an eagle on the 17th in a 69.

Ask the majority of the masses watching Robert MacIntyre putt out on the 18th green, meanwhile, what they know about the Camanachd Cup Final and they’d probably have more chance of explaining the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity than the finer points of yesterday’s shinty showpiece.

“It’s the big one and I’ll try to catch up on it,” said shinty loving MacIntyre of the clattering caman clash between Newtonmore and his hometown club of Oban.

MacIntyre’s other sticks continues to serve him well over the West Course even if the old putter is not behaving itself at times.

The 23-year-old’s two-under 70, which included birdies at 16 and 17, for a five-under tally left him sitting on the fringes of the top-20 in his debut in the championship.

“I keep missing short putts,” said MacIntyre, who has three runners-up finishes this season.

“When the putting is good, I compete. When it’s not so good, I’m in the middle of the pack. But I fought hard there at the end and got my rewards.”