O’Meara tipping young Scots to go all the way

MARK O’Meara today claimed Aberdeenshire aces Richie Ramsay and James Byrne should be inspired by the charge of the European stars in golf.

The American saw only two of his countrymen feature in the top 10 at the Open in St Andrews, as a new world order in golf emerges.

In contrast, there were six Europeans on the leaderboard, following on from Graeme McDowell’s success at the US Open.

Six of the world’s leading 11 golfers are now British, while the likes of Germany’s Martin Keymer and Henrik Stenson of Sweden are in good form.

O’Meara, who played at the Grampian Houston Junior Golf pro-am in Aberdeen, insisted the likes of Ramsay should get a boost when studying the standings.

He said: “That just builds confidence for the young players, whether it’s Richie Ramsay, any other Scot, or a guy like Rory McIlroy.

“I played with Rory two years ago when he won his first tournament in Dubai and I saw this wonderful talent.

“It’s interesting to see the quality of play in all areas. The Scots have improved.

“That should only promote golf and help more young players become very good professionals. We are starting to see that now. It’s coming.”

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