Richie Ramsay gets Ballantine's bonanza By MARTIN DEMPSTER Published on Monday 30 April 2012 00:00 RICHIE Ramsay claimed a more lucrative prize than he earned for winning the 2009 South Africa Open as he staged a storming finish to claim second place in the £2 million Ballantine's Championship in Korea. The 28-year-old Aberdonian picked up a cheque for close to £200,000 after signing off with a seven-under-par 65 at Blackstone Golf Club in Icheon for a total of 275, five shots behind winner Bernd Wiesberger from Austria. It is the second biggest pay-day of Ramsay's career after the £218,000 he picked up for third place behind Italian Francesco Molinari in the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He is up to 27th, a leap of 77 places, in the Race to Dubai and has also improved to 14th on the European points list for this year's Ryder Cup. "It was a fantastic day," said Ramsay, who covered his final 40 holes in the event without dropping a shot. You never want to lose, but Bernd played well all week and he's also a top-class guy. I played with him on the Challenge Tour a few years ago and, if you're going to be beaten by anyone, Bernd is probably the one. The Scot, who started the day eight shots behind Wiesberger, had cut the Austrian's lead to three after picking up his fifth birdie of the day at the par-3 16th. He signed off with another birdie, but Wiesberger picked up shots at the same two holes over the closing stretch to seal his maiden European Tour victory. At the finish, Ramsay was more concerned with securing second place ahead of Australian Marcus Fraser and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson. "I knew the last tee shot would be crucial for second place and it was lovely to make a four-footer on the 18th green as it gave me a cushion," he added. I felt earlier that if I got to 13 or 14-under I might put some pressure on Bernd, and that final tee shot is so challenging you never know what might happen. Look at Paul (Lawrie) winning the Open at Carnoustie after what happened to Van de Velde at the last. In the end, Wiesberger never came close to a meltdown moment and was delighted to make his big breakthrough on the European circuit after twice finishing as a runner-up. One of those came in last year's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where the 26-year-old was among those involved in a marathon five-man play-off that was eventually won by Thomas Bjorn. "I just tried to enjoy it and I had the three best rounds of my life," said Wiesberger, who started the day with a five-shot lead and was coolness personified as he closed with a 68 for an 18-under-par winning aggregate. I tried not to make bogeys and I did that pretty well. It was awesome. My game plan was to hit as many greens as possible and try to make putts, and they dropped in the end. I didn't get nervous. I had three or four shots. There was a pretty shaky moment at 12, but I made a great chip and a putt for par, and I just tried to enjoy it the last three or four holes in. Wiesberger, who picked up a cheque for a whopping £300,000, is being tipped for big things by Fraser, who won this event on Jeju Island in 2010. "I said to Bernd, "get used to that because you're going to do that quite a bit." He's as impressive a golfer as I've ever seen. Scott Jamieson (71) finished 49th, Peter Whiteford (68) 54th and Marc Warren (73) 60th.