Bob MacIntyre handed seismic Ryder Cup boost as super showing at The Open rocket him up the charts

Daily Record

21-07-2025

Scottish star all set for New York after latest Major Top 10
Brilliant Bob MacIntyre has secured a huge boost in his Ryder Cup return bid as he gets set for some New York carnage.
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The Scottish hero's latest Top 10 at a Major has rocketed him into second spot behind already-qualified Rory McIlroy in the European points list with just a month of qualifying to go.
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MacIntyre and McIlroy both finished tied-seventh at The Open at Royal Portrush and the result on top of his runner-up finish at last month's US Open has all-but booked the Oban star's place in Luke Donald's team for Bethpage.
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The 28-year-old will return to the United States for the Wyndham Championship next week before taking his place in the Fed-Ex play-offs, with his ranking of 15th meaning he's also set for the Final of that in Atlanta.
MacIntyre stays World No.14 after Portrush and, with another huge Major result on the CV, he says he's streets ahead of the golfer he was even a year ago.
He's ready to go for the rest of the season with The Ryder Cup in sight and he said: 'My job is to qualify by automatic so that Luke can do what he wants with the picks. I feel like the last two Majors have put a massive dent in that and it's just keep going, play golf, do what you do. Good golf takes care of The Ryder Cup.
'I can't be far away now. There's going to be, for me, three or four tournaments I play from now until the finish and, if I do my job well, I should be in that team.
'I'll have about five, six days off, then I'll fly to the States for the Wyndham. That should be me secure for East Lake now, so it'll be the three play-offs and then get ready for a bit of carnage!'
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MacIntyre left Northern Ireland for the boat home feeling pleased overall with his display, yet knowing there's more to come and he can see the improvements.
He said: 'It might not be visual as in on the FedEx or on the Race to Dubai, but statistically for me last year, me and [caddie] Mike were talking about it, it's not even night and day how much better I am at this game or how much more complete of a player. It's just streets ahead.
'It's just allowing that to happen in little pieces. I'm frustrated this week from certain parts of my game, I feel there's lots of improvements. It's amazing. I'm finished where I finished [at Open] and I'm disappointed with my wedge play.
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'It's funny I have to say that. Last time I was here in 2019, I finished sixth and I was skipping home, I was delighted. Yes I'm going to be delighted with this. I feel I wasn't in the tournament [on Sunday] to win it, I was jockeying for position trying to finish as high as I could.
'It is a good result, but I feel I'm still piecing it together and there's a lot still to come. I'm getting closer to where I want to be.'
In fairness, no-one was in the tournament in terms of winning bar Scottie Scheffler once the World No.1 put the foot down over the weekend and the Scot laughed: 'That's the problem, him getting his clubs out! It is a big problem! But no, look, he's the best player in the world for a reason. When I seen the [Sunday] weather, I thought: No-one is catching him on a day like this.
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'We needed a tough, tough test and he would probably still master it, but again, for me personally, it's a solid week, it's another Top 10 in a major, it's another step forward and it's another kind of tick in the box that I'm in the right place, I'm doing the right things, I have the right people around me and that's all we can do.'
MacIntyre has savoured the past two events at home with great experiences gained at the Genesis Scottish Open and the big result bagged at Portrush.
He said: 'I absolutely love it. I was disappointed with last week [Scottish Open]. A couple of things that, we didn't neglect, we just didn't dig deep enough into it. There's going to come a time when it's going to happen again and we are going to know why it happened. Whether that is Shinnecock [Hills] next year with the firm turf, but the support I have had last week and this week have been unbelievable.
'It [Portrush} is not far from home for me and it's special. This place is special to me. A golf I love, my first Major and a place I really enjoy coming to, so it's a good recipe.'
MacIntyre has crammed plenty golf into his recent run, but he's not for stopping with the form intact as he explained: 'It's quick, especially the PGA TOUR season, I think it's too jammed. But you know me, I'm a small European that goes over there. But I feel like the schedule that I've been playing for the last, I don't know, three months has been absolutely hectic. I feel I've hardly had a break. But that's part of the job. Keep going. When you're playing well, just keep going.'