Richie will start life as a professional at The Russian Open Golf Championship in Moscow this week, courtesy of an invitation from the European Tour. His decision to turn professional follows a successful amateur career that saw him become the first British winner of the prestigious US Amateur Championship in nearly 100 years. As a result of this win, Richie has teed up at the US Masters, US Open and The Open Championships and various PGA and European Tour events, allowing him to experience the professional game at the highest level.
Member of the 2005 Walker Cup Richie said, “I have had a great amateur experience and am hugely grateful to everyone who has supported me, especially the coaches, staff and players at the Scottish Golf Union. Now I want to go out and see what I can achieve as a professional and can‘t wait to get started in Russia this week. IMG represent the world’s best players, many of whom I have had the opportunity to meet and play alongside this year. As I make the transition into professional golf, I feel confident they will provide exactly the guidance, service and support I will need to allow me to concentrate on my golf.”
Guy Kinnings, IMG’s managing director of golf in Europe, Middle East and Australia, whose team represents the world’s best golfers including Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty, said; “Richie has had a great amateur career and we are delighted he is joining IMG. Thanks to his amateur achievements and forays onto the professional tour, he has a lot of unique experience under his belt already and we believe he is well equipped for a very successful professional career.”
Richie will be managed by Mark Booker at IMG, whose clients include rising stars Ross Fisher and Rafael Cabrera Bello.
IMG www.imgworld.com