ROBERT MACINTYRE CREDITS CANADIAN OPEN WIN FOR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY TO WIN SCOTTISH OPEN
TROON, Scotland — Local hero Robert MacIntyre credits winning this year’s RBC Canadian Open for giving him the experience necessary to come out on top at the Scottish Open.
Like Nick Taylor last year at Oakdale, MacIntyre accomplished a childhood dream last week by winning his national Open in dramatic fashion.
“It wasn’t really until you win in Canada that you really feel like I can compete out here fully,” the 27-year-old Scotsman said at Royal Troon on Wednesday. “I think it’s just an attitude thing. You’re not given anything out here. You’ve got to earn it. You’ve got to earn the respect of the guys you’ve looked up to for many years.”
MacIntyre took Monday off and arrived Tuesday at the Open Championship, fresh off a well-earned celebration after making a birdie to win on the 72nd hole at Renaissance Club on Sunday.
“I’m not a big drinker, but when you get moments like that, that’s a childhood dream and a lifetime goal, and you’ve got family and friends there that have backed you since you were a young kid, I think it was quite right to go absolutely wild,” he said. “I think we done a good job of that.”
MacIntyre credits some of the lessons learned during the final round in Hamilton for allowing him to get the job done in Scotland.
“In Canada, I was getting a bit of jip on the 10th hole in the final round,” he said. “All the way up to the 11th hole, I was getting some stick. Canadian fans are always wanting Mackenzie Hughes to win it. And I’ve holed that putt, I think it’s to go four or five ahead, but they’d been giving it all the way up the hole, which is totally fine.
“I loved it. And I gave probably the biggest fist pump I’ve done in my career, in my life, and then I hit the worst 4-iron I’ve ever hit in my life.
“Again, I just learned from that and I knew the minute you get too high or low, you lose all the fine motor skill, you lose all the touch and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen last week. It’s just about learning from the good or the bad. It’s just keep on taking them steps forward.”
MacIntyre’s Scottish Open win came on the 25th anniversary of Colin Montgomerie’s win, which was the previous time a Scotsman won his national open. This week marks the 25th anniversary of Paul Lawrie’s Open Championship win, which is the most recent time a Scotsman won the game’s oldest major.
Can MacIntyre do it again this week?
“It’s possible. (Thursday) we’ll start off from level par,” he said. “If I do my job well enough and I hit the shots I see, execute them as well as I can, accept where they end up, then there’s a chance.”
2024-07-17T14:58:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd