Richie Ramsay sings praise of Golfers for Ukraine initiative

Richie Ramsay praised golf’s effort to provide support for Ukrainians as they suffer at the hands of Russia after being part of one of the lowest-scoring days in golf history.

The Edinburgh-based Aberdonian carded a six-under-par 66 in the MyGolfLife Open, a new event on the DP World Tour, at Pecanwood Golf & Country Club in South Africa.

Apart from the fact he was one-over for the par-5s, it was a good day’s work yet Ramsay finished the opening circuit in a tie for 20th.

In a birdie barrage at the Hartbeespoort venue, four players - home duo Hennie Du Plessis and Tristen Strydom, as well as England’s Ross Fisher and Spaniard Nacho Elvira - all shot 10-under 62s.

Ramsay signed for seven birdies, dropping his only shot of the day when taking a frustrating 6 at the seventh - his 16th hole.

“It’s a really good, solid start and I need to keep the foot on the pedal as scoring is going to be very low,” said the former South African Open champion.

Launched this week, Golfers for Ukraine is an industry-wide effort that is collecting donations for UNICEF.

“I sent Keith [Pelley, the DP World Tour chief executive] an email saying that whoever put that together has done a great job,” said Ramsay. “We should be getting behind the Ukrainians as much as possible.

Richie Ramsay in action during the first round of the MyGolfLife Open at Pecanwood Golf & Country Club in South Africa. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

“It was very interesting that there were a few other sports that did it really early like rugby. The Six Nations teams when they played the other week were really at the forefront of that.

“Now we’ve joined that and, whether it be the Sunshine Tour, R&A, PGA Tour, DP World Tour, we are all together.

“There is a bigger picture in this and hopefully we can raise as much funds as possible and get the money out there and take care of the people that need it.”

Connor Syme was next best among the Scots with a 67, followed by David Law, Scott Jamieson and Ewen Ferguson as they all signed for 68s. Grant Forrest (69) and David Drysdale (70) also broke par, with Stephen Gallacher (73) the odd man out.

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