admin
DUBAI. — Stephen Gallacher’s dream of playing in the Ryder Cup in his native Scotland in September is now firmly in the realms of the possible following his win in the Dubai Desert Classic yesterday.The first man to successfully defend the title in its 25-year history, the 39-year-old Scot will jump 30 places in the world rankings up to 37th.
That opens all sorts of doors for him, most notably ensuring that he plays in all four of this year’s majors, including a first outing at Augusta National for the Masters in April.
It also qualifies Gallacher for the WGC Accenture Match-Play Championship in Arizona, starting on March 19.
Those are the tournaments that generate the most points and that is what he needs if he is to break into the nine automatic qualifying slots for the European team. Otherwise he would have to depend on being one of captain Paul McGinley’s three wildcard picks.
Gallacher, who grew up 37 miles (45 kilometres) from Gleneagles where the Ryder Cup will be staged from September 26-28, said that playing in the biennial team showdown with the United States had been a lifelong dream.
“I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself but certainly with an uncle (Bernard) who played in it eight times, captained it three and vice-captained it two, it’s pretty much all I grew up watching.
“And then, when it’s 37 miles from the house, in my generation, it’s never going to be in Scotland again, so it’s always been a long-term goal of mine to play in a Ryder Cup.” — AFP.
Online Reporter