Latest news with #RobertMacIntyre
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Colin Montgomerie backs Robert MacIntyre to end Scotland's major drought
Colin Montgomerie has backed Robert MacIntyre to become Scotland's first major winner in almost three decades and believes he is on the brink of something special. The 28-year-old from Oban finished tied-seventh at last week's Open to add to his second-place finish at the US Open in June, where he ended two shots behind JJ Spaun. Scotland hasn't had a major winner since Paul Lawrie came from 12 shots back to win the Open at Carnoustie in 1999. Montgomerie, 62, went close but finished second four times, including to Tiger Woods in the 2005 Open at St Andrews. A year later, he looked set to win the US Open but double-bogeyed the 72nd hole whilst in a tie for the lead and lost by a shot. But the eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner thinks MacIntyre, who has five top 10 major finishes, is his country's next great hope to reign supreme at one of the sport's big four tournaments. '[MacIntyre] almost won the US Open there at Oakmont, it was a great performance from him and let's hope he takes that forward,' said Montgomerie, speaking at the launch of Ernie Els' new golf club, Els Club Vilamoura. 'Another top 10 finish at [Royal] Portrush too, and he was top 10 there six years ago as well, so he's right there. He drives the ball very well, and putts extremely well. 'And who knows, with a favouring wind, you've got to be lucky, you've got to have fortune, whether it's fortune for you or unfortune for your opponent, if he has that fortune, he has every chance of winning a major.' Montgomerie is backing MacIntyre to play a key role in a European Ryder Cup victory in New York in September. Europe have not won in the US since the 'Miracle of Medinah' in 2012 but have a team stacked with talent, led by Masters champion Rory McIlroy. The teams are decided by a combination of world rankings and captain's picks but MacIntyre, ranked 14th in the world, should be an automatic choice. 'I think we've got a very good chance, I really do,' said Montgomerie – who captained Europe to victory in 2010. 'I think the team are excited about going to Bethpage. McIlroy especially wants to win away from home. 'The last seven Ryder Cups, I believe, have been won by the home team, four by Europe and three by America. 'So, it is difficult to win away from home, but at the same time, with [Jon] Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton coming back into the fold, we've got a good set [of players]. We've got a great set that are coming through. 'I think we've got every chance.' Montgomerie played a nine-hole exhibition to open the Els Club Vilamoura alongside four-time major winner Els and 2001 Open Champion David Duval. The Algarve course is a championship-standard 18-hole golf course that features a luxury clubhouse and signature amenities such as the 261 Bar, and was built on the redesigned Victoria course, which hosted the Portugal Masters from 2007 to 2022. It will host the new PGA Champions Tour event, the Portugal Invitational, after signing a five-year deal. The first edition of the event is set to be held between 31 July to 2 August 2026. Els said: 'Golf is in the pretty sweet spot at the moment and [creating this course] has been a really nice venture. We want the conditions to be absolutely perfect and for people to have a great experience and good food.' Montgomerie added: 'The golf course is superb, and the clubhouse is fantastic. It's not just a course for the present; it's a course for the future as well.'
STV News
21-07-2025
- Sport
- STV News
Back-to-back major top-10s reinforce MacIntyre's belief he can win one
Back-to-back major top-10s have reinforced Robert MacIntyre's belief he can win one of golf's premier events. Last month he was denied the chance to win the US Open by a monster putt from JJ Spaun at the final hole but his return to Royal Portrush – where he made his major debut in 2019 – and a joint-seventh finish boosted his confidence. 'I know I've got the game. I feel like it's a matter of time if I just keep piecing it all together,' he said after shooting 67 to get to 10 under. 'I was coming out here trying to win the golf tournament but I knew I was too far back going into today. It was just jockeying for position, picking up a couple whenever you can. 'But I'm a far better-equipped golfer (than 2019). For me, looking now, it's been a great performance, a good result. 'It's another kind of reassurance that I'm in the right place.' MacIntyre is now looking to cement his place on the Ryder Cup team having been a member of the victorious European side in Rome two years ago. 'I thought after the US Open it might be done but I've got three more tournaments before the deadline and I want to qualify automatically,' he added. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
On The Road: Bob would have been here for Oban Celtic's big day... but he had a wee golf game on!
There is a nod, it seems, to absent friends. What looks suspiciously like a golf bag sits on the sidelines as Oban Celtic 's players prepare for a cup final. 'It holds our sticks,' one player says. 'Some people call them camans but they have always been sticks to me.' The bag is wheeled to the Oban Celtic technical area at the pitch in the village of Cannich, home of Strathglass Shinty Club. However, there are two missing heroes for the final of the Chieftain's Cup. Dougie MacIntyre, co-manager of the team, is in Portrush to watch his son, Robert, a passionate shinty player, fiddle about with a golf stick. 'Aye, they have a wee golf game on,' says Oban co-manager Cammy MacCallum with a smile. He laughs at the jocular suggestion the pair should be fined or suspended for missing the final. 'They both would have been here if Robert had missed the cut,' he says of the local hero who was at the sharp end of the Open Championship this weekend. Many of the Celtic supporters, who have travelled more than 100 miles by bus and car to attend the final, believe Robert would have played on Saturday. He certainly played last week at Aberdour, coming on to help Celtic achieve a 2-2 draw. This may stand as one of the most unusual preparations for the Open. 'Both he and Dougie are wanting updates on the game,' says Stephen Campbell, who is helping with dugout duties. 'I remember once we were playing and I got a text from Bob asking how we were getting on. I replied: 'Are you not playing in a tournament?'' 'He texted back: 'Aye, I'm delayed on the tee'.' The focus of the MacIntyres was thus on matters at hand in Northern Ireland. It is, though, reasonable to suggest that much of their heart lay in the glen in Cannich where their team — their mates — forged out a victory to lift their first senior cup in what a club historian described as 'many a year'. The MacIntyres, whisper it, have a celebrated relationship with Oban Camanachd, the other team in the town. Dougie and his brother, Gordon, won the Camanachd Cup with that team in 1996. 'I was in that side too,' says Campbell. 'Dougie was a wonderful player, certainly one of the best Oban ever produced and I would say one of the best the sport has produced.' Gordon MacIntyre scored the winner in that final, only seven weeks after losing an eye in a shinty match. 'The game was easy for them but the rest of us had to work a bit harder,' recalls Campbell of the prowess of the brothers. 'Bob could have followed them. He has everything, hand to eye co-ordination, the physicality and the shinty brain. He loves the sport, too.' Bob's dalliance with golf meant MacCallum had to leave off-field coaching duties to Campbell as he placed himself between another set of sticks — the goalposts. 'Our keeper left after last season so I have had to step in,' he says. 'I am 50, so I raise the average age of the team quite a bit.' The team is mostly comprised of local lads. 'I have had most of these boys since primary three,' says Campbell. 'It's great to see them progressing and playing in a final.' David Hamilton, 75, has a longer association. 'I played with the side in the seventies,' he says. He points out that boys and girls can now play in six-a-side competitions at under-five level. 'It's all about getting them out on a field,' he says, before generously presenting me with a bundle of shinty books. He remains a stout advocate for the sport and is an organiser for the Macaulay Cup which is contested by the best eight teams in the country. 'Today's competition is for clubs who only run one side,' says Hamilton. 'But it means so much to us.' Campbell has one more contribution to make before settling on the touchline. 'They say shinty was a precursor to golf,' he says. Well, it was for a lad on the other side of a strip of water. History and culture gently co-exist in the shadow of the clubhouse at Strathglass Shinty Club. It is cup final day, the cars are parked in a field, the buses sit in a lane, and the burgers are being cooked on a barbecue. The venison variety is consumed voraciously, though there seems to be a limited appetite for the vegan option. A shinty final is, after all, a meaty affair played amid the clash of sticks and bodies, with a ball flying distances that would constitute a decent wedge shot in Portrush. The modern story of shinty is fascinating, with a corporate restructure providing it with the infrastructure to grow the game. Burton Morrison, president of the Camanachd Association which runs the game, was brought up just down the road in Glenurquhart, although studies took him subsequently to Aberdeen and business to Glasgow. 'The sport is in a healthy state with more youngsters playing,' he says. 'We are sending an under-17 team to Ireland next week.' He adds: 'Bob generates interest. Shinty is being mentioned on the highest stage of world golf. He doesn't forget his roots.' Roddie MacLennan, chairman at Strathglass, was pleased to host the first final of the Chieftain's Cup, previously known as the Single Team Cup. He pointed out boards that helped tell of the formation of shinty as a formal sport with codified rules. Central to this is the magnificent figure of Captain Archibald Macra Chisholm, elected chieftain of the first Camanachd Association in 1893. He was the founder of Strathglass Shinty Club in 1879, so it was fitting that the final was played there on Saturday. History was also represented in physical form by a variety of elders of the game. Alan Hill, 88, admits with a smile he could be described as a newcomer to Oban, only coming to the town to live in 1943. 'I played a few games for Oban Celtic,' he says. He was introduced to the game when he became a 'message boy' for a Ballachulish owner of a mobile shop. 'We saw a lot of games back in the day.' Hill, who has co-authored a wonderful history of sport in Oban, adds: 'It gave me a great affinity for the game.' He is joined by Ian MacPhee, a mere stripling at 80, who has written a history of Ballachulish Shinty Club. Both recall Bob's grandfather, also Dougie, who was a great shinty player. 'He was superb,' says MacPhee. 'He would shove his stick out and nothing would get by him.' They both attest that shinty is better run now, with a board of directors making it a more professional body. But they insist that shinty will always have its roots in the community. 'The club means so much to the village,' says MacPhee of Ballachulish. 'During Covid, the boys would go round the doors making sure everyone was all right.' Both bemoan the trend of players leaving local teams for bigger clubs. Celtic and Ballachulish play in the South Division, below the Premiership. Players are attracted to the top level. 'In my day, you played for your village team and that was that,' says MacPhee. 'It was a village sport with great rivalry. But players can now just move on.' Some even venture into other sports. In Bob MacIntyre's case, he always carries more than a bit of Oban Celtic with him — from Augusta to Portrush to the silver sands at Aberdour.
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
'I know I've got the game to win a major,' says Scotland's Bob MacIntyre after another top-10 finish
Robert MacIntyre couldn't quite match the tie for sixth he managed on his Open debut at Royal Portrush in 2019, but the Scot still feels it's just 'a matter of time' before he lands his first major. The moment he was craving to attack the Northern Irish course in a final-day title bid was, in truth, never really going to materialise when eventual champion Scottie Scheffler was so far ahead of the chasing pack from Saturday onwards. However, off the back of his runner-up finish at last month's US Open at Oakmont, MacIntyre saw enough in his game these last few days to suggest that he is not far away from lifting one of the game's big prizes. MacIntyre certainly seems to be nearing the consistency on the big stages that could see him become the first Scot to win a major since Paul Lawrie's Open triumph at Carnoustie in 1999. 'I just had to keep saying to myself, 'Stay patient, there's a good finish there if you can stay calm',' said the 28-year-old, whose closing 67 saw him tie seventh with home favourite Rory McIlroy and last year's Open champion Xander Schauffele. 'There's certain holes this week that were vital, and I played them poorly. But I'm finishing top 10 in a major and being frustrated with certain parts of my game. 'Things are good and I've just got to wait my turn. 'I know I've got the game. I feel like it's a matter of time, if I just keep piecing it all together. 'It's been a great performance and a good result, but it's another reassurance that I'm in the right place.' He admitted after Saturday's third round that he would need a 'hot start' to make an impression at the top of the leaderboard. While that didn't quite materialise, four birdies in his final seven holes — including consecutive gains at 14 and 15 — were further evidence that he doesn't lack the confidence or prowess to challenge at the very top of the sport. The Oban left-hander made a promising enough start with a birdie at the par-five second after his long eagle putt stopped tantalisingly short of the hole. However, he immediately handed back that advantage with a bogey on the par-four fifth. 'Stupid', was MacIntyre's brutal assessment of that aberration, which effectively halted him in his tracks until another birdie at seven. By the time he found the momentum he was looking for, it was ultimately too little too late. There were gains at 12 and 14, the latter when a low chip scuttled all the way into the cup. That hoisted him back to the upper reaches of the leaderboard, and some of the exciting promise he had shown over the last four days was fulfilled as he recorded further birdies at 15 and 17. Certainly, finishing alongside McIlroy and Schauffele on the minus 10 mark was no disgrace, albeit the trio found themselves seven strokes behind first-time Open champion Scheffler. Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li were a shot ahead of MacIntyre in a tie for fourth, while Harris English finished runner-up and Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup was third.
The National
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
Robert MacIntyre finishes tied seventh in The Open at Portrush
After his thrilling second place finish in the US Open at Oakmont last month, Robert MacIntyre backed it up with a sturdy top-10 in The Open here at Royal Portrush. Trying to catch Scottie Scheffler, of course, was going to be a mighty task akin to attempting to land a shoal of cod with a sieve but MacIntyre dug in with his usual spirit and set about finishing as high as he could. A back-nine rally for a four-under 67 hoisted the Oban lefty onto a 10-under aggregate. When it was all done and dusted, MacIntyre had earned a share of seventh place. Back in 2019, MacIntyre marked his major championship debut here at Portrush with a share of sixth. Since then, the Scot has played in 18 more majors and has added four more top-10s. It continues to be an impressive body of work. 'I feel like it's a matter of time,' said MacIntyre about his prospects of becoming the first Scottish men's major champion since Paul Lawrie won The Open back in 1999. The major championships have hurtled by in a flash and MacIntyre has nine months to wait until the Masters at Augusta tees things off again in April. 'It's quick, especially the PGA Tour season,' said MacIntyre of a condensed, packed schedule that would make a tin of sardines look like a vast acreage of space. 'I think it's too jammed. I feel like the schedule that I've been playing for the last three months has been absolutely hectic. I feel I've hardly had a break. But that's part of the job. When you're playing well, you just keep going.' MacIntyre certainly got going as the holes began to run out at Portrush. Level-par through the 11th, the Ryder Cup player upped the ante coming home and mounted a bold offensive. He birdied the 12th, then chipped in from off the 14th green for another gain. The punch of the fist showed he was enjoying the charge. A raking birdie putt from over 25-feet on the 15th bolstered the assault and he came within a whisker of an eagle on the 17th. 'I was frustrated early on and the bogey on the fourth was stupid,' he said as he reflected on his round. 'It was sloppy, and I was being too aggressive to a pin that you just could not miss on one side. "But I just had to keep saying to myself, 'stay patient, there's a good finish there if I can stay calm and just pick up the shots where I can'. 'This is my favourite Open venue,' MacIntyre added of this happy hunting ground. 'I love the golf course, I love the place. The support has been unbelievable. It's not far from home as the crow flies and it's a shame it's not here every year. 'Look, I was coming out here trying to win the golf tournament. But I knew I was too far back going into today. So it was just a case of jockeying for position. 'This place, statistically, is a golf course that I should have been sharper on. My wedge play was really poor this week. There are certain holes this week that were vital, and I played them poorly. 'To really contended I just wasn't sharp enough on those holes, and then on the really tough holes, that's where the dropped shots came and ultimately cost me a real chance.' With another huge haul of Ryder Cup qualifying points gathered up as well, MacIntyre's seat on the European plane to Bethpage Park in September is all but booked. 'I thought after the US Open it might be done, but I think it has (been done) now,' he said.
