One of Scotland’s leading golfers has spoken about how he’d love to see Andy Murray mentoring the country’s elite athletes, saying they would be “laser-focused” in the same room as the three-time tennis Grand Slam winner.
“I mean, if he [Andy] was willing to do it, he should be a mentor for the elite athletes in Scotland as anybody in the right might would jump at that opportunity,” said Richie Ramsay, speaking at Wentworth, where the recently-retired Murray played in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am earlier this week.
“If he walks in a room, it stops,” added the four-time DP World Tour winner. “And, if he says something, I’m laser-focused on what he is saying because it means so much. He’s walked the walk, right, and that’s why there’s such a huge amount of respect. You can see what the likes of [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic and [Rafa] Nadal say about him. He’s pretty iconic, really.”
Referring to a huge crowd following Murray’s match at Wentworth, he added: “Yeah, the more he can be in pro-ams, the more he can be out there and encouraging people. We all know how well Judy [Murray, Andy’s mum] does with getting kids into sport, but imagine if Andy could become ambassador for golf and get kids into the game.
“You just look at him and know that if he says something, even with kids ears will prick up and they’ll pay attention. I’ve always said that in school they should show his two Wimbledon finals and also winning the Olympics.
“Kids forget pretty quickly so you’ve got to show how much of a superstar he is. He really is a superstar, even though he might play it down himself. He’s a huge catch for golf and the more we can get him out there if he wants to, the better it is for the game. Just talking about golf and promoting golf, how much he enjoys golf.”
Murray, who brought the curtain down on his glittering career with a farewell appearance in the Olympics in Paris earlier in the summer, is aiming to get his golf handicap down from seven to scratch and, according to pro-am partner Bob MacIntyre, the Dunblane man will achieve that aim in “no time”.
Ramsay, who has never been scared to admit that he’s always been one of Murray’s biggest fans, is excited to see the 37-year-old throwing himself into a new sport.
“I think it is really good for him, just because you need that competitive element,” said the Aberdonian. “I have always worried knowing that I’m not a million miles off retirement about getting to that cliff edge and it’s like ‘oh, what do I now’?
“But having that competitive edge and purpose every day while having time to drop the kids off at school and spend quality time with them will be really good for him.
“Also, it can only be a good thing for golf because you sometimes forget when you look at him and think ‘aye, he’s Scottish and did this and did that’. But he played through an era which is unprecedented.
“He won Wimbledon under so much pressure and I remember playing in a pro-am with Tim Henman after he finished playing and he was saying it was relentless during Wimbledon week.”
As it has become for Rory McIlroy every April as he arrives at Augusta National bidding to become just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam by winning the Masters.
“If I was Rory, I’d be flying Andy Murray out and tapping into his brain as he’s got the same pressure situation when it comes to The Masters,” observed Ramsay. “He should be asking him how to prepare for it as he’s one of the few people in the world who’ve had that same pressure he now has.”
