Richie ready to put injury woes behind him

Carbon Financial’s DP World Tour ambassador Richie Ramsay has unveiled a striking new bag in the instantly recognisable orange and black corporate colours.

The Scot is currently in Dubai preparing for the Middle East Swing and working his way back to full fitness after a painful stress fracture brought his 2025 season to an abrupt end in October. In his first blog of the year Richie looks back on the injury and his plans for the first few months of 2026.

“I only started hitting drives again at the turn of the year to build-up tolerance in my swing, so it has been a gradual process. I’m feeling much better but I have to make sure I go through a thorough warm-up even for practice sessions.

The plan now is to play the Dubai Desert Classic, Bahrain and Qatar, then look to South Africa.

With the weather back home being freezing cold I was lucky to get access to fantastic facilities at Kingsfield and Gleneagles. Now I’ll be playing with the sun on my back for the next few weeks.

Looking back, in India I had been feeling the injury but by the time I got to Seoul for the Genesis Championship in October I knew there was something very wrong. I had no option but to withdraw after a few holes of the first round.

I shouldn't have even started, but I wanted to give it a go because I had travelled so far and for so long to play. I couldn't turn through making a swing. I was getting a very sharp pain. My body was telling me enough was enough.

I hadn’t played any practice rounds hoping the problem would settle down. But when the Tour doc pressed on the rib I nearly jumped off the table.

When I tried to book an early return flight I was gutted when I saw there were just six seats available, all in the middle so no stretching out.

It was a three-hour drive to the airport, more than 10 hours to Dubai with a six-hour layover before the 10-hour flight to Glasgow. I have had more comfortable journeys. It’s not all private jets for Tour players despite what some people might think!

When I got home, a scan confirmed a stress fracture in a right rib under my pectoral muscle.

It happens quite a lot in golfers, tennis and rugby players because of the repetitive rotational aspect of our sports.

On the plus side I got to spend more time at home with Angela and our daughter Olivia but I couldn’t even go to the gym and that is something I found very frustrating. Gym work has always been a pillar for me so I was a bit down.

I 100% get why some people in any walk of life struggle with retirement and multi-millionaires or even billionaires still invest time in their companies. It’s not the money that drives them on. They know doing nothing is going to be bad for them.

But I have had time to reflect and really appreciate what I do for a living. Golf is something I love and am still passionate about, although I was avoiding watching it on TV because I so wanted to be out there taking part.

Another silver lining is that I wasn't chasing my Tour card when the injury ruled me out. That was already secure.

And now I am gearing up for another year competing, and this season I’ll have the Carbon colours on the bag. It's great to have their support again going into what is my 18^th consecutive year on Tour.”