Open legend gives Bob MacIntyre the ultimate Portrush seal of approval as Scot insists he'll stick to his 'little rules'
Open legend Sir Nick Faldo has given Bob MacIntyre the Portrush seal of approval.
The three-time winner believes the Scottish star is amongst the genuine contenders to win The 153rd Championship after his brilliant Oakmont showing.
MacIntyre's runner-up finish to JJ Spaun at the US Open last month caught the eye of Faldo who believes it will have acted as a key stepping stone for the Oban hero.
The English legend said: 'I think what happened in the US Open was big for him. Suddenly he had a chance where he thought: Oh, I could win this. I was watching from afar and, after day two, I thought: Two over could win this. You've got guys at five-under, but we all know the US Open, everybody comes back in the weekend.
'I bet he thought that for a moment, so that probably was good for him. I bet he had a good couple of hours when he thought, I could do this. So that's a different feeling in your body and your mind, isn't it? And how you're playing. So I bet he's looking forward to this week. It seems that it's going to be nice temperature, but we're going to get plenty of good weather, aren't we? We're going to get wind and rain and all sorts of things.
'So it's got to suit the Scottish and Irish boys this week. We're used to playing in that. It's a different wind, such a heavy wind here being on the coast. You've got to know what you're doing and how to do it.'
MacIntyre says he'll relish the conditions and stated: 'For me, it's the purest method of the game that we've got, links golf. So many different ways to play it. It's not just 155 yards, pitch it 155 yards, keep it two yards right of the pin. It's not that. It's the unpredictability of what that's going to give us.
'You could tee off at 8am, beautiful sunshine and then at 8.15am there's a storm coming in, you're playing and the wind switched. It's just unpredictable with the weather, unpredictable with the bounces. I think that's what I love about it, that if you're out of position, I've got little rules that I keep.
'In links golf it gets pretty easy with there's certain things you cannot do and there's certain things you have to do. I think it's the best way to play golf is links golf. A lot of guys that I watch that haven't played it as much as I have make the mistakes, and then I'm looking at it going, you cannot do that.
'But, as for me, sometimes you can hit certain shots, but you're actually walking up there going, that's all right, that's all right, we've got a chance from there. I just love it and I think that's why I've been brought up in it. I play it less now, and I think I enjoy it more now than I've ever done it.'
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