By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Oban man has been steady rather than spectacular this year but his game looks in great shape
It's
been more than a quarter of a century since Scotland produced a men's
major winner - Paul Lawrie in The Open at Carnoustie in 1999 - and, you
know what, it could well be another 25 years or so before we've got
something really big to shout about again.
That's
how difficult it is for anyone to land one of the game's biggest prizes
and it is something that we should all remember as the 2026 major
campaign looms on the horizon, with The Masters being followed on this
occasion by a PGA Championship at Aronimink, the US Open visiting
Shinnecock Hills and The Open being held at Royal Birkdale.
That said, there can be no denying that Scotland has a genuine contender
at the moment when it comes to the events that really matter in the
sport because Bob MacIntyre certainly has both the talent and potential
to become a major champion.
It was absolutely huge for the Oban man when he came close to winning
last year's US Open, having posted the clubhouse target in a gruelling
final round at Oakmont before seeing J.J. Spaun produce a brilliant
birdie-birdie finish to leave him having to settle for second spot.
MacIntyre
then gave another good account of himself when finishing in the top ten
in the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush the following month and has now
recorded five top tens in what is still a relatively short career in the
game's marquee tournaments.
He's
also now had successive top-ten finishes in The Players Championship,
having ended up ninth last year and then claiming solo fourth spot in
the PGA Tour's flagship event at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach in
Florida on Sunday.
Given that the 29-year-old had been joint-42nd and 12 shots off the lead
at the halfway stage, it was a brilliant effort, having catapulted
himself into contention by making nine birdies in a third-round 65
before being in with a definite chance of winning as the action unfolded
on the back nine.
Make
no mistake, the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course is an absolute brute
and you actually have to see it with your own eyes - as I was lucky to
do for the first time a couple of years ago - to know that, from start
to finish, it just never lets up.
Standing
in the middle of the fairway at the par-5 16th, MacIntyre knew that if
he could find the green and make a birdie, he might well have emulated
Sandy Lyle's superb success in the event back in 1987, when the two-time
major winner beat Jeff Sluman in a play-off.
‘Worst lie I could possibly get all week’
Alas,
he came off his second shot with a 7-wood and was unlucky to find an
awful lie in the rough, leaving him with a perilous chip, having to dig
one out and, having no control on it, seeing it run all the way across
the giant green before dropping over the edge of the wooden sleepers and
into the water.
"I
got the worst lie that I could possibly get all week in a kind of
little valley where the mowers couldn't get to and it was six, seven
inches long," he later revealed, doing well to limit the damage to a
bogey before signing off with two solid pars.
In
the end, he finished three shots behind Cameron Young, admitting it
felt a "sore one right now" but had also been a "good week" and, rightly
so, feeling proud of himself that he "gave it a shot" and had still
"played aggressive but smart" on the final two holes following his
untimely setback.
It’s
no surprise that lots of Scots are feeling excited about what lies
ahead for MacIntyre this season, starting at Augusta National, where he
tied for 12th on his debut in 2021 then gave another good account of
himself by finishing in the top 25 again the following year before
missing the cut last year on his return to that particular stage after a
two-year absence.
Bob MacIntyre and caddie Mike Burrow talk tactics during the last round of The Players Championship | Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
In six events so far this year on the PGA Tour, he’s been steady rather
spectacular but making cuts is a great habit when you are playing at the
top level and his worst score in 16 rounds has been a 73 while 12 of
those efforts have been in the 60s.
He
talked on Sunday about how he feels he is “driving it beautifully” and
“putting unbelievable” and, if he can keep it that way when he heads up
Magnolia Lane in just under three weeks’ time, then, yes, he could be in
with a chance as be bids to try and emulate Lyle once again.
If
not, MacIntyre will move on to Aronimink, Shinnecock Hills and Royal
Birkdale knowing that he has the game to get himself in the major mix
and that, more than anything, it’s about trying to stay patient and
letting things happen rather than trying to force the issue.
Just
think about Matt Fitzpatrick, for example, when he won the US Open at
Brookline Country Club in Boston in 2022 and certainly don’t be
surprised if he adds to that tally over the next few years because,
although he was denied by Young at TPC Sawgrass, the Englishman is one
of those players who thrives on big occasions.
‘Child’s play compared to Bethpage’
Though
helped, of course, by the fact, they are TGL team-mates, it was very
classy indeed to see Fitzpatrick masking his own disappointment to show
genuine joy for Young on Sunday, when, over the past couple of holes, it
felt more like a Ryder Cup as the fans starting singing “USA, USA!”
“Listen,
that was literally child's play compared to Bethpage,” said a smiling
Fitzpatrick, referring to the awful abuse aimed at the Europeans in last
year’s Ryder Cup. “If they think that that was anything, then they need
to reassess. Get yourself up to New York!”
It’s
Ireland next, of course, for that event and, with Fitzpatrick,
MacIntyre, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and
Viktor Hovland all finishing in the top 15 on Sunday, then Luke Donald
should be a contended European captain once again.
