Robert

MacIntyre

“I’m here to try and win the Scottish Open, next week try to win The Open Championship,” said the 25-year-old from Oban, Scotland, ahead of this week’s event at The Renaissance Club. “These two weeks are massive for my game and my career. I have a chance the next few weeks to do something special and I’m not worrying about what’s going on.” In three previous starts at the Scottish Open, he was T-18 in 2021, T-14 in 2020 and missed the cut in 2019. On the season, MacIntyre has made seven cuts in 11 DPWT starts (best finish: T-9 at the Ras al Khaimah Classic in February) and is 5-of-6 in PGA Tour action, including a T-23 at the Masters and 77th at the PGA Championship. Visit the link below to read MacIntyre’s full comments.

The 25-year-old MacIntyre, No. 73 on the Official World Ranking, carded a 66 during the second round last year en route to a T-8 finish, and he hit the podium in his tournament debut in 2019, notching an eagle-birdie finish in the final round for a 68 and a share of second place. On the season, MacIntyre has made four cuts in six DP World Tour starts, with a best finish of T-9 at the Ras al Khaimah Classic. In PGA Tour action, he’s 4-for-5, finishing T-15 at the Genesis Invitational in February and more recently finishing T-23 at the Masters. MacIntyre has one DPWT title, winning the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown.

The story of Laird’s 2022 has been the putter as the 39-year-old has been terrific in the ball-striking department. Routinely gaining strokes off-the-tee and on approach, Laird’s minimal gain on the greens of TPC San Antonio marked the first time in two months he was able to accomplish such. 5-for-7 making the cut this year, Laird is now set for his eighth start in the Zurich Classic. T-7 in 2018 with Russell Knox and T-9 in 2019 with Nick Taylor, he will now look to Robert MacIntyre for assistance. This will be the 25-year-old’s Zurich Classic debut, but he does arrive off a top-25 finish at the Masters Tournament. Connecting on his last six cuts worldwide, the Scottish duo will likely need to lean on MacIntyre’s putting as both are adequate from tee-to-green.

Finishing in a tie for 12th in his Masters debut last season, MacIntyre impressed as he has sneakily put together a very strong major championship resume. With two top-10 finishes at The Open Championship, the 25-year-old is securely in the field at Augusta National due to his performance a year ago. Finding some success to begin his 2022, MacIntyre has collected three top-15 finishes worldwide including a T-15 effort at the Genesis Invitational. Unable to advance out of the group stage of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match like last season, he will look to adequately prep for the year’s first major at TPC San Antonio.

The 25-year-old Scotsman finished T-9 last year at Austin Country Club, where he went 1-1-2 after beating Kevin Na, 2 and 1, followed by two halved matches vs. 2017 champ Dustin Johnson and Adam Long. He fell to Victor Perez, 5 and 4, in the Round of 16. “I’ve been brought up playing match play all my life – a lot of our junior golf is match play, I’m used to it,” said MacIntyre, a winner on the DP World Tour and DPWT rookie of the year in 2019. “I know what it takes. But it’s definitely tough. You’re playing against the best guys in the world here this week. If you’re not quite at it, then you can get blown out. If you’re on your game, you can do something special.” He’ll play this week in Group 2, where he’ll first squares off vs. No. 2 Collin Morikawa, No. 22 Jason Kokrak on Thursday and No. 43 Sergio Garcia on Friday. MacIntyre has made just on PGA Tour start this season, finishing T-15 in February at the Genesis Invitational. In four DPWT events, he missed two cuts but rebounded with finishes of T-13 and T-9 at the Ras al Khaimah Championship and Ras al Khaimah Classic, respectively.

Per the article from Bunkered, the world No. 55 said, “Clothing is a big part of a professional golfer’s make-up, and it’s so important to have confidence in the quality of what you’re wearing each week. The depth of the Nike Golf range covers everything that I need, and it’s reassuring to know that they will be there to support me wherever I am playing in the world.” The 25-year-old added, “The constantly developing alliance between the European and PGA Tours means that my playing schedule is becoming more international each year. This will bring more extremes in climate and weather conditions, and Nike are perfectly-suited to help me deal with all that this brings.” Expectations have been high for MacIntyre for quite some time as he went winless in 2021 with his best result coming early in the year via a solo third-place finish at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January. He will look to find the winner’s circle in 2022 as he will get his season underway in the desert of Abu Dhabi once again.

The 25-year-old Scotsman notched his fifth top-10 finish of the season and finished ninth in the Race to Dubai, his career best after finishing 11th in 2019 as a rookie and 23rd last year. MacIntyre also became the first Scot to finish in the top 10 in the R2D since Paul Lawrie in 2012 and only the second since 2006. MacIntyre finished at 13-under 275 in his third start at Jumeirah Golf Estates, tied with Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard and four strokes behind winner and Race to Dubai champion Collin Morikawa. He previously finished T-23 in 2020 and T-14 in 2019. His top-10 finish also secured him a spot in next year’s U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. On the season, MacIntyre made 17 cuts in 19 starts with his best being a third-place finish at the Dubai Desert Classic in January. He also went 11-for13 in PGA Tour action.

The 25-year-old world Scotsman said he’s been working on a few changes to his game over the break, including a switch in mindset. “I’ve got goals that I’ve set and there’s little things that I’m trying to work on within my team … to be more aggressive from certain numbers,” he said. “I’m trying to flip the switch now and become more offensive than defensive. … Trying to be more positive. Everyone that knows me knows that I’m not the most positive human being, but we’re getting there, we’re trying to change that.” This week’s venue, Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, is the site of Oliver Fisher’s historic first European Tour 59 in 2018. “59 is an incredible score, 69 is a decent score as well,” said MacIntyre. “It’s a golf course that you get lots of chances if you’re driving it well, but if you’re not driving it well, you’re going to get punished.” MacIntyre has made 14 cuts in 16 starts this season and stands sitting 16th in the Race to Dubai. He went 11 for 13 in PGA Tour starts last season.

The 25-year-old world No. 54 finished T-26 in his only other Dunhill Links appearance, in 2019. MacIntyre is aiming to get back on track following streak of three missed cuts that included the first two legs of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals as well as the BMW PGA Championship earlier this month. This is his first start since Wentworth. “I’m just trying to build on what I started the year on,” he said Wednesday. “I started really well, and the last eight weeks, I feel like I’ve just kind of plateaued out. Obviously missed a few cuts. But at the end of the day, if I go out here this week and I put on a good performance, [those] three missed cuts, no one’s talking about them. For me, I’m not really thinking about them, or I’m not thinking about them at all. I’m out here this week to try and win a golf tournament.” MacIntyre made 11 cuts in 13 PGA Tour starts last season, and he’s 13-for-14 in European Tour action, currently sitting 17th in the Race to Dubai.