I won the Scottish Open<\/a>, which was my main goal in life apart from a major. Now, for me, it is about winning majors. With the way I am playing, the consistency and the level I know I can play at \u2026 I don\u2019t see why not. It actually gives me goosebumps here thinking that I know I have a chance when I pitch up at any of them.\u201d Second at the US\u00a0Open last year is proof of that.<\/p>\nIt was a shock to most observers that MacIntyre survived for only 36\u00a0holes of Augusta National in 2025. Since then, he has not missed a cut. Given his own lofty standards, last year in Georgia stung. \u201cThat was a sore one,\u201d MacIntyre says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like making excuses but there were things going on that sort of dragged us down. Billy Horschel struggled as well. We were in the same group as poor Nick Dunlap, who was struggling off the tee, which was a shame. I\u00a0am looking forward to going back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because MacIntyre is too kind to\u00a0say it, Dunlap shot 90 in the first round. Horschel completed the three\u2011ball exit at halfway.<\/p>\n
MacIntyre\u2019s Players quest was alive and kicking until the 16th hole of round four. A second shot pushed into rough, his third flew across the putting surface and into water. \u201cI had a chance to win the Players. I am just gutted with the way it finished with that lie. I\u00a0didn\u2019t even think I could get it out of there, it was sitting horrifically in the rough. I thought: \u2018I\u2019ll just dump this on the front edge of the green.\u2019 It came out decently, I thought it was good and would go to 45ft.\u201d<\/p>\n
The left-handed Robert MacIntyre is looking forward to the Masters. His best finish there is tied for 12th in 2021. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
He did exceptionally well to compose himself by the tee of the iconic but treacherous 17th and had a chance for a birdie from 30ft. \u201cI was fairly calm, I had good numbers for the shot with my 56\u2011degree wedge,\u201d MacIntyre says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is horrible if you don\u2019t. I was wanting to go straight at the flag. I was at the point of no return; go\u00a0at it and see where you end up. My caddie got me to be sensible there. I still gave myself a chance at\u00a0the 17th and hit a great tee shot on 18, my wedge shot there just took a massive bounce. But overall,\u00a0a great week.\u201d<\/p>\n
His prominence was extraordinary in itself. MacIntyre was a dozen shots off the lead after round two. It is more than two decades since a golfer overcame such a deficit on the PGA Tour. Nobody has won the Players when more than seven adrift at halfway. \u201cI was miles back but I have been driving the ball unbelievably well and putted the best I ever have,\u201d he says. \u201cFor the last eight months, a year, my putting has been superb. So I knew I had a chance. Thankfully my iron play, wedge play and chipping pitched up those\u00a0last two rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between now and his Augusta return, MacIntyre has domestic matters on his mind. Or in his own words, \u201cchanging nappies\u201d. His partner, Shannon, gave birth to their son in late January. \u201cI feel bad that I am out here competing when Shannon is at home,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone in the family is fully understanding. Shannon has been brilliant as have both sets of parents. We both have unbelievable support back home, which makes life a little bit easier from my side but there is nothing like being home with family.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is, however, no chance of\u00a0him mellowing inside the ropes\u00a0any time soon. \u201cI am still volatile. It is part of my DNA, that fire. I think when I finish on the course, it makes it easier. I\u00a0FaceTime them and the wee man\u00a0is screaming or drinking milk;\u00a0he doesn\u2019t have a clue what I have just done. But the fire in the belly is not going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is just as well Robert MacIntyre cares little for publicity. He also does a fine line in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-529084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}