British Open is coming, but Robert MacIntyre is solely focused on Genesis Scottish Open

USA Today

7 days ago

Robert MacIntyre made a boyhood dream come true last year at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The pride of Oban, a resort town in Scotland's Firth of Lorn where his father works as the greenkeeper at a local course, MacIntyre played the final five holes in 4 under to shoot 3-under 67 at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick and become the first Scot since Colin Montgomerie to win on home soil in 25 years and just the second to do so in the 42 times it has been played since first being contested on the DP World Tour in 1972.
MacIntyre grew up attending the tournament as 'a wee lad' when it was played at Loch Lomond. One year earlier, MacIntyre had his heart ripped out after Rory McIlroy birdied the final two holes to steal the trophy.
'I dreamed of playing in it and once I got playing in it, I'm thinking, let's win this thing, and obviously coming close,' MacIntyre said. 'It was the most special thing to happen in my golfing career… It's the one I wanted and it's the one I got. It's just, I've watched it as a kid growing up, and it meant a lot.'
MacIntyre, 28, has made steady progress during his career, rising to No. 14 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He didn't focus on golf until the age of 17 after growing up playing his favorite sport, shinty, a team sport with a stick and ball that is popular in the Scottish Highlands and often draws comparisons to field hockey. He played for his local club, Oban Camanachd, but MacIntyre's family recognized his special talent as a golfer and went all in to make his dream a reality.
'We used to have a horse for my sisters, and couldn't afford to do both, and my sisters gave up the horse and gave me a chance to go and travel some within Britain,' MacIntyre recalled.
He came to the U.S. and played college golf at McNeese State from 2014-15, and turned pro in 2017 ahead of the Mena Tour's Ayla Golf Championship, a golf tour in the Middle East and North Africa.
'What's the point going out here and not making any money?' he explained. But he was quick to point out that turning pro wasn't a rash decision.
'I'm someone who is not scared to take risks. I'm not someone scared to make a big decision. But they are not rash. They are calculated,' he said. 'If you get an opportunity, you just, the way I do it, I go straight at it. If you've got a chance, just straight at it, what's the worst that can happen? You fail. I feel like that's the way I've done my whole career. So far, slow and steady.'
The Scottish lefty shot 78 in his pro debut but bounced back with a course-record 64 to finish third, and two weeks later claimed the Sahara Kuwait Open. He never looked back, going on to claim his maiden DP World Tour title in Cyprus in November 2020. He won his first PGA Tour event last June at the RBC Canadian Open with his dad as his caddie.
The Scottish Open was even a more miraculous fairytale – Data Golf estimated he had a 2.8 percent chance of winning the tournament after he missed a 6-foot par putt at No. 10 to drop three strokes behind leader Ludvig Aberg. His deficit remained unchanged until he drained a 41-foot birdie putt at the par-3 14th. The make percentage from 40-45 feet last season? A mere 3.85 percent.
That momentum shift combined with a favorable ruling that granted him free relief at the par-5 16th turned the tide. It was determined that MacIntyre, who tugged his drive into some of the thickest rough on the course, was standing on a sprinkler head and was able to drop in shorter grass that provided a better lie. MacIntyre wears three metal spikes on the front of his shoe and said he never would've felt the sprinkler if he'd only had plastic spikes.
'It was just a lucky break. You use the rules to get an advantage. You stand on a sprinkler, you're due relief,' he said. 'That was just the one kiss I needed.'
Still two strokes back, he nailed a 6-iron from 248 yards to 6 feet to set up an eagle and tie Adam Scott for the lead. Statistically, it was the best approach shot he hit all year. Then he pulled one last rabbit out of his hat, sinking a 22-foot birdie putt at 18 for the win.
'Standing over the putt, I was just like, 'This is the chance you wanted. Take it,'' MacIntyre said. 'Aimed just outside the right edge. It was a double breaker. It was breaking early to the right and then the last, like, eight feet was just peeling left.
'I thought it was half a roll short when it was going. It just looked like it was running out of legs. Yeah, it was just perfect.'
MacIntyre had tagged his national open the championship he most wanted to win outside of the four majors. He nearly stole the U.S. Open last month, rallying from a nine-shot deficit early in the final round with a 68 and held the clubhouse lead until J.J. Spaun finished with birdies on the final two holes to win by two.
'I learned so much; that I can handle the heat under the gun of that,' said MacIntyre, who clapped for Spaun when he watched his 64-foot putt drop on TV. 'That was my biggest thing.'
While other players in the field at this week's Scottish Open may be looking ahead to Royal Portrush and a chance to win the Claret Jug at the season's final major, the British Open, MacIntyre's eyes are still firmly set on this week's prize.
'Every time I pitch up, I want to win it again,' he said. 'I want to keep this trophy every year until I stop playing.'