european tour robert macintyre

Emotional Robert MacIntyre Seals Maiden European Tour Title

The Scot won the Cyprus Showdown by a single stroke after a birdie-birdie finish

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Robert MacIntyre claimed an emotional maiden European Tour title at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown, where a seven under final round 64 earned him a one-stroke victory over Japan's Masahiro Kawamura.

The 24-year-old carded eight birdies in the final round of the unique format, in which the 19 players who had progressed to the final round began the day from a clean slate in a sprint to the finish - with the lowest round of the day sealing victory.

It was a closely-fought contest until the final furlong but MacIntyre, who won last year’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award with an 11th place finish in the Race to Dubai, almost holed a remarkable ace at the par three 17th before tapping in for birdie to take a share of the lead.

A fearless drive down the par five 18th presented a golden opportunity to seal victory outright and so it transpired as a perfect second shot and a simple two-putt earned him his first title.

Kawamura earned the best European Tour finish of his career, finishing runner-up on six under, while Spain’s Jorge Campillo finished in outright third sport on five under.

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"This is what I’ve been working for. It’s been a difficult few months for me, only my family know what’s going on. I can’t believe it," MacIntyre said.

"My game is there, tee to green I’ve been absolutely brilliant the last two weeks. The putter has been cold, stone cold.

"When the rain delay came in there, I said to my caddie Mike, it’s time to show up. I hit a great iron shot into 15 and there it was. It turned up right at the right time. Mike did brilliantly too there. It’s what I’ve dreamed of since being a wee kid watching Scottish Opens at Loch Lomond. To finally play on tour, and I gave myself a lot of chances last year, and this week’s format suited me and I took it.

"When that storm came in, I had good momentum, had just birdied 13. Then I missed a putt on 14 but the seven-iron into 15 and the iron shot into 17 – we just played left into it, I pulled it slightly but it was a perfect number and I just missed the hole. The 17th hole was huge, when I saw the scores.

"I’ve done a lot of work in the last six months, not thinking about winning a golf tournament, just to play my golf. Last year, I was talking and thinking about winning golf tournaments when I was going down the back nine on a Sunday, but this year I’ve just tried to take my time and let it happen. What will happen will happen and it’s happened today."

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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook , Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

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Cyprus Showdown: Robert MacIntyre finishes strong to win first European Tour title

The 24-year-old birdies four of the final six holes to finish a shot ahead of Masahiro Kawamura and win on the European Tour for the first time.

Sunday 8 November 2020 16:03, UK

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Robert MacIntyre won his first European Tour title after a brilliant finish at the Cyprus Showdown.

The 24-year-old birdied four of the last six holes, including birdies on 17 and 18, to finish on seven-under-par, one shot ahead of Masahiro Kawamura.

Final leaderboard

Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown

Jorge Campillo finished at five-under after a birdie-eagle finish, with Thomas Detry, Callum Shinkwin and Johannes Veerman a shot back.

A tense final day saw the lead change hand several times while play was also suspended for 48 minutes due to the threat of lightning.

But it was MacIntyre who emerged victorious, a week after finishing third over the same layout at the Cyprus Open .

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"This is what I've been working for," he said. "It's been a difficult few months for me, only my family know what is going on. I can't believe it.

"My game is there, tee to green I've been absolutely brilliant the last two weeks but the putter has been cold - stone cold.

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"When the rain delay came in there I said to (caddie) Mike, 'it's time to show up'. I hit a great iron shot into 15 and there it was, it turned up right at the right time."

The final day at Aphrodite Hills featured 19 players, with the top 16 and ties advancing from the third round, and all scores reset to par to set up an 18-hole shootout.

Kawamura started strongly with birdies on the first, third and fifth holes, along with a bogey on four.

MacIntyre was on par after following a birdie on the second hole with a bogey on the third, but back-to-back birdies on five and six saw him also move to two-under-par.

There was a seven-way tie for the lead as the day's first group were reaching the end of their rounds and the leaders were making the turn.

By the time play was briefly suspended due to the threat of lightning it was Marcus Armitage, Kawamura and MacIntyre in a share of the lead at four-under-par.

A triple-bogey eight at the last saw Armitage fall out of contention and left Kawamura and MacIntyre to battle for victory.

Both managed birdies on the 15th but MacIntyre took the outright lead with a birdie at 17 and managed to find another birdie on the par-five 18th to seal victory.

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Clements shoots 63 to win Czech Masters. MacIntyre strengthens Ryder Cup chances

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VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic (AP) — English golfer Todd Clements came through a bunched field Sunday to win the Czech Masters for his first European tour title after shooting a bogey-free 9-under 63 to seal a one-stroke victory on Sunday.

Compatriot Matt Wallace could have forced a playoff at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague but pushed a 10-foot birdie putt wide at the last hole.

Clements, who turns 27 on Tuesday, graduated from the Challenge Tour last year and is ranked No. 394, finished the week on 22-under 266.

He hadn’t finished in the top 20 in any previous event this season, but shot in the 60s every round at the Czech Masters.

“In the circumstances, it’s my best round of golf,” said Clements, who made three straight birdies from Nos. 1-3, 6-8 and 11-13 to be 9 under after 13 holes before parring his way home.

Clements will be inside the world’s top 200 for the first time when the ranking is updated on Monday.

Wallace shot 67 and was alone in second place, three strokes ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (69).

There was a six-way tie for fourth place, including two players — Robert MacIntyre of Scotland (66) and Ludvig Aberg of Sweden (66) — who could be part of Europe’s team for the Ryder Cup next month.

MacIntyre’s high finish strengthened his spot in third place on the European points list with one event to go in qualification — the European Masters in Switzerland next week.

Aberg, a 23-year-old Swede who only turned pro in June and was playing in his first European tour event, might have done enough to convince European team captain Luke Donald to give him a wildcard pick.

Donald will announce them on Sept. 4.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

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Robert MacIntyre's bright future is a product of his Scottish roots

In deference to his mother, Carol, the name that has made regular appearances on European Tour leader boards the past few months is “Robert MacIntyre.” But to everyone else, the 23-year-old who already is Scotland’s greatest all-time left-handed golfer—a low bar, admittedly—is “Bob.”

“Bob from Oban,” that is.

Just as the superstar that Arnold Palmer became was forever the working-class boy from Latrobe, Pa., MacIntyre’s soundness of character, inherent good nature and solid upbringing are all inextricably linked with his hometown, a picturesque ferry port with a population of about 8,500 on the western edge of the Scottish Highlands. MacIntyre’s inventive shot-making—most recently witnessed with a driver off the deck played at last week’s Italian Open that had social media buzzing—is to a large extent a product of growing up at the local course, an eccentrically contoured par-62 layout measuring 4,471 yards.

“I love the way Phil Mickelson plays. He puts everything on the line, and that’s how I try to do it,” MacIntyre says. “But my creativity stems from playing at Glencruitten. It is short. It is tight. It is up-and-down mountains. You never have a straightforward shot from the middle of the fairway. You might be in the middle of the fairway, but there is a hill to go ’round. It’s a place where I learned every type of shot: low, high, hooking, fading.”

And humility. Courtesy of a practical joker employed by TaylorMade, the clubhead of MacIntyre’s 52-degree wedge bears the label Millionaire Bobby Mac. But the lad whose rookie season on tour has been dotted with three second-place finishes, a T-4 over the weekend in Rome and a T-6 in the Open Championship has retained the “ordinariness” inherent of his background. His father, Dougie, is the greenskeeper at Glencruitten, and the family home sits a mere 20 paces from the 12th tee. When he first saw what had been etched on the back of his club, MacIntyre’s reaction was typical.

“Hide that thing,” he said to his caddie, Greg Milne. “We’re playing with billionaires.”

Though it’s safe to assume such a lofty financial bracket will remain out of reach, MacIntyre has amassed more than €1.5 million in his first full year on the European Tour. More than three-quarters of that sum came those four top-four finishes and a glorious week at Royal Portrush, where MacIntyre became the first Scot since Andrew Kirkcaldy in 1879 to have a top-10 finish in his Open debut. MacIntyre’s closing 68, climaxed by a 25-foot for birdie on the 72nd green, was the third-lowest score on what turned out to be the greatest day of Shane Lowry’s life.

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Such a high-profile display of excellence was followed by three weeks away from the tour, during which MacIntyre resumed what might be termed “normal service.”

“He had plenty to keep him busy,” Carol says. “He mucked in with the hoovering [vacuum cleaning], got the messages [groceries] from the shops, went to see his papa [grandfather] and spent some time with his pals [the closest of whom is a monumental sculptor]. “The Open was life-changing in many ways, but it hasn’t changed who he is. He’s so grounded, and that’s as much to do with the community he’s grown up in as anything else. Oban is a big part of his success.”

Indeed, MacIntyre’s growing pre-eminence—he is 86th in the World Ranking and seventh on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai—is something his homeland has long yearned for. Since the Ryder Cup juggernaut that was Colin Montgomerie bowed out in 2006, only two Scots, Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher, have represented Europe in the biennial contest with the United States. So, though all of Scotland might not be turning its lonely eyes in MacIntyre’s direction just yet, the nation that gave golf to the world is in dire need of a (male) star to get behind. And at least one learned observer thinks MacIntyre might be that man.

“What I like about Bob is how calm he looks on the course,” says Peter Alliss, longtime BBC commentator and former Ryder Cup player. “I like watching him play. He smiles a bit—not too much, but just enough. He has a beautifully rhythmic swing and doesn’t seem to get agitated. I hope that doesn’t change. He needs to keep doing things his way.”

That has always been a feature of MacIntyre’s likable personality. “I’m quite easygoing. I never worry about what others do or say” in the game that replaced shinty as the most important sport in his young life.

“Shinty is a cross between field hockey and legalized violence,” Macintyre says with a smile. “Make that a mix of hockey and the Irish sport of hurling. It’s a stick-and-ball game, played mainly on the ground. You can take full swings. And use both sides of the stick, without having to spin it ’round. So you can hit the ball left-handed and right-handed. It’s a Highland sport, played first by the clans. So it’s in my blood. My father and uncle were both really good players. My papa played until he was into his 50s. It’s a rough game—or can be. I’ve never been hurt playing, though. I know where to go and where not to go.”

That much has long been obvious. At first unsure about exactly what to do in the two years between leaving high school and turning pro, MacIntyre accepted a full scholarship at McNeese State University in Louisiana. It was the making of him. During his 18-month stay starting in the fall of 2014, the young Scot won a tournament, lost a couple of playoffs, competed alongside the likes of Jon Rahm and Ollie Schniederjans, elevated himself into the world’s top-50 amateurs and, perhaps just as important, learned how to cook and do laundry. It was, he says, “a brilliant experience.”

‘He’s so grounded, and that’s as much to do with the community he’s grown up in as anything else. Oban is a big part of his success.’ —Carol MacIntrye, Robert’s mom

The same might be said for the 2017 Walker Cup matches at Los Angeles Country Club. Great Britain & Ireland fell to a heavy defeat, but MacIntyre’s performance was notable. Drawn against Cameron Champ twice in singles, MacIntyre emerged unbeaten, his 6-and-4 victory on Day 1 preceding their halved match 24 hours later.

On his return to Oban, the former Scottish Boys stroke-play champion, Scottish Youths champion and Scottish Amateur champion at first was determined to stay in the unpaid ranks. Intending to compete at the European Tour Qualifying School as an amateur, MacIntyre turned down the chance to play in the Dunhill Links Championship and headed to the Middle East and two events on the MENA Tour. Just before he left, though, a change of heart saw him make the trip as a professional.

His start was less than auspicious.

“I shot 79 in my first round as a professional,” he says with a big smile. “That night I texted my manager, Ian Stoddart: ‘We’ve all got to start somewhere.’ It is still in his phone. The next day, I shot two or three under, then broke the course record in the third round. I ended up missing a playoff by a shot. But to go from 79 and thinking I could only get better, to a decent score, to blitzing it, gave me huge confidence. And I won the next week.”

Still, even with that boost in his bag, MacIntyre struggled to get to the third and final stage of Q school, making it “on the number” at Stage 2.

“My dad was caddieing, and I couldn’t keep my driver on the planet,” MacIntyre says. “I was slicing everything. But a few hours before the first round, I decided just to play with my big slice. It was blowing a gale, and some of the slices I was hitting were 60 to 70 yards. I was hitting the ball 340, but it was only going 280. It was the only way I could get the ball in play.”

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

That pragmatism helped earn MacIntyre a spot on the Challenge Tour in 2018, where he performed well enough (12th on the money list) to claim a European Tour card for a 2019 season that has brought so many headlines. There have been numerous highlights, such as playing alongside Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, but one sticks out.

“My biggest thrill this year was the 5-wood second shot I hit to the 17th green in the last round of the British Masters,” MacIntyre says. “When the ball landed on the green, I heard an almighty roar and knew it was close. I had a lot of my family there that week, and they made a lot of noise, but it wasn’t just them. I was playing with Tommy Fleetwood in his hometown, and it was like the support switched from him to me in that moment. Until then it had been ‘Tommy, Tommy, Tommy.’ But on the way to the 18th tee they were all shouting, ‘Come on Bobby Mac.’ ”

Speaking of family, MacIntyre’s clear sense of perspective has much to do with the fact that his mother and father are long-time foster parents. The current incumbents are 10-year-old Tom and Dan (The Man), who is 6.

“I have learned a lot about life through my parent’s fostering,” says MacIntyre, who also has two older sisters. “The kids generally come from a variety of backgrounds. Some have been battered. Some are just neglected. Some have been abused. Dan and Tom have been with us 2½ years. They are the lucky ones. They have been helped. But there are so many others.

“I play golf for the sheer enjoyment. I love it. I’m good at it. But it isn’t life or death. It’s a job, but it will never be everything. At the Dunhill Links last month, I was raging at my poor finish. But once I was in the car heading home, I was fine. My dad was driving. And Dan was there. He didn’t care what I shot. Ten minutes into the journey, we were singing songs.”

All of which might lead the uninitiated to imagine MacIntyre is some sort of soft touch. Not a bit of it, as he proved to the world during the Open at Portrush. Playing alongside PGA Tour regular Kyle Stanley, MacIntyre took exception to the American’s failure to shout “fore” after wayward shots . Twice Stanley’s ball struck spectators, one the mother of MacIntyre's caddie.

“I felt like I did everything right,” says the Scot, who received some blowback for speaking out . “I said something to Kyle only when the time was right. I felt like I did what I did the way I was brought up to do things. I spoke to him personally. He was right on the cutline. And I was aware of that. So I didn’t say anything on the course. I left it until we got into the scorer’s hut. I asked him nicely. But he didn’t like it.”

Other than not converting one of his chances to win a tournament this year, the dispute with Stanley is perhaps the only discordant note in MacIntyre’s 2019. As ever, he has things in proportion, his first thoughts focused on those closest to him.

“People see the money I’m making,” he says. “I’ve been asked why I’m not buying things. But I was brought up to respect money. We’ve never had a lot. But I’m not tight. When I travel, I like to do things right. Good flights. Good hotel. Good food. That’s an investment in myself. But I’m not going to blow a few hundred quid on a night out just because I can. That’s not me. I’d rather spend my cash on something for the family.”

Besides, money isn’t everything. There is always Oban to look forward to.

“The view as you drive into town stays with me wherever I go,” he says. “Going down the hill, you look right into the water and across to the islands. Then I know I’m home.”

Top photo: Matthew Harris/TGPL

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Robert MacIntyre captures Canadian Open with dad as caddie

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HAMILTON, Ontario — Robert MacIntyre captured his first PGA Tour win at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday with a final-round 68, finishing at 16-under-par.

As he sank his par putt on the 18th to clinch the title by one, thunderous applause ensued. He embraced his dad, Dougie, who was his caddie this week.

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As MacIntyre waved to the crowd, tears streamed down his face. Scotland fans cheered with pride from the gallery as the native son won. One spectator started singing, “No Scotland no party,” waving a Scottish flag.

MacIntyre, a PGA Tour rookie, became the third Scottish-born golfer to win the Canadian Open.

“I’m speechless,” MacIntyre said on CBS. “It’s just everything for me and my family.”

When CBS’ Amanda Balionis asked Dougie, a greenskeeper back home, the meaning of this moment, he began crying.

“Unbelievable,” Dougie said. “I’m a grass cutter,” before struggling to speak, overwhelmed with emotion.

"I want to win this for my dad." ❤️ Robert MacIntyre spoke to our @Amanda_Balionis on what it meant winning the @RBCCanadianOpen with his father on the bag. pic.twitter.com/DCeQU878GI — Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) June 2, 2024

Dougie was MacIntyre’s fourth caddie change in the last 18 months. Robert called it an “emergency phone call” last Saturday, offering his dad the chance to caddie for him this week.

“How would you fancy coming to Canada and caddie for me?” Dougie recalls his son asking him.

The next morning, Dougie said he got a direct flight to Toronto. He and Robert had to fly to Ottawa Monday night to get a work visa. Dougie said he didn’t get back to Hamilton until Tuesday night.

MacIntyre had nine holes of preparation — the back nine — before teeing it up Thursday. A week later, MacIntyre won Canada’s national open — a tournament with illustrious past winners like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

“So over the moon, I can’t actually believe it,” Dougie said. “I caddied my son and he won the Canadian Open.”

MacIntyre bogeyed the first hole, which brought several golfers closer to the lead. With Rory McIlroy and Tom Kim making Sunday charges and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes birdieing three of his first four holes, MacIntyre’s lead dwindled. MacIntyre and Hughes were tied for the lead at one point on the front nine.

But Hughes bogeyed Nos. 5 and 9. McIlroy and Kim ran out of holes. MacIntyre responded to his bogey on the first with birdies on Nos. 4, 7 and 8. He made the turn leading by three. He sank a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 11 — the most difficult hole on the course — and gave a convincing fist pump.

It wasn’t all straightforward for MacIntyre on the back side. He hit his tee shot on the 12th in the water hazard, resulting in a bogey. On the par-3 13th, known as “The Rink” hole for a hockey-board-style setup around the tee box, MacIntyre hit his tee shot left of the pin, which trickled down the slope into the rough. He left his chip shot short and couldn’t make the par save, leading to a second-consecutive bogey.

With MacIntyre on No. 15, he had a one-shot lead over Frenchman Victor Perez, who shot a bogey-free 64. But that quickly changed when MacIntyre striped his lob wedge to five feet from the hole. He sank the birdie and sealed the win. American Ben Griffin finished second at 15-under-par.

It’s been a year of change for MacIntyre, who moved to Orlando, Fla. when he got his PGA Tour Card. The 27-year-old was candid about the difficulty adjusting to life on the PGA Tour . MacIntyre leaned on other DP World Tour golfers, like Ryan Fox, who are dealing with a similar transition.

“We’re all competitive,” MacIntyre said. “We’re all wanting to beat the hell out of each other when we’re on the golf course, but I think off the golf course it’s a lot more tightknit.”

MacIntyre credited his resilience this week and not putting expectations on himself. Asked what he learned about himself, MacIntyre said he had “a hell of a fight in me.”

“I’ve been working hard, really hard, on the mental side of the game because once we picked apart my game of golf, we realized that the game of golf isn’t the problem. I’m the problem,” MacIntyre said in the champion news conference. “I’ve worked really hard at that with my team and I’ve said it probably for the last four or five weeks that the mental side’s so important to me.

Leader by FIVE! @Robert1Lefty is fired up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dBvpfbCqAc — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 2, 2024

MacIntyre shot four rounds in the 60s (64-66-66-68). With the win, MacIntyre qualifies for the remaining two signature events of the year on the PGA Tour: the Memorial Tournament and the Travelers Championship.

MacIntyre turned pro in 2017. He earned his card on the DP World Tour in 2019 after he finished 12th in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. MacIntyre has two DP World Tour victories, the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown (2020) and the DS Automobiles Italian Open (2022).

MacIntyre’s prominence grew after losing by a shot at his home tournament, the Scottish Open, in 2023 to McIlroy, after shooting a final-round 64. He also was on Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup, where he went 2-0-1, including a Sunday singles victory over 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.

In addition to MacIntyre’s win Sunday, he has three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2024.

Required reading

• PGA Championship contender Robert MacIntyre credits ‘happy Bob’ mindset for good golf
• C.T. Pan uses fan, 2 other caddies after ‘Fluff’ Cowan takes fall at PGA Tour event

(Photo of Robert, left, and Dougie MacIntyre: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)

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Lukas Weese is a Staff Editor of News at The Athletic. Before The Athletic, Lukas was a freelance sports journalist, working as an associate editor at Sportsnet, an OHL reporter for the Toronto Star and had bylines in outlets such as ESPN's Andscape, USA Today, Complex, Yahoo Sports, GOLF Magazine, Just Women's Sports and Raptors Republic. Lukas also does freelance play-by-play broadcasting. Follow Lukas on Twitter @ Weesesports

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PGA Tour a “lonely place” compared to European circuit, per DP World Tour pro

Scotsman Robert MacIntyre, who earned PGA Tour status this year, referred to the American based circuit as a “lonely place.”

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Thanks to his superb play on the DP World Tour a season ago, which included a runner-up finish to Rory McIlroy at the Genesis Scottish Open , Robert MacIntyre earned PGA Tour membership for the 2024 season.

But playing on the PGA Tour has not been the best experience for MacIntyre, compared to the comfortable confines of the DP World Tour.

“It’s completely different,” MacIntyre explained to Bunkered , a Scottish golf publication.

“When you’re on the DP World Tour, it’s very friendly. Everyone is together. We’re all traveling the world. If we’re struggling with certain things, we speak to folk around us.”

So far this season, MacIntyre, who played in his first Ryder Cup in 2023 and did not lose a match, has only two top-10 finishes to his name. He tied for sixth at the Mexico Open and eighth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

But he missed the cut at The Players Championship and did not qualify for The Masters . He also has not met the criteria to play in any Signature Event so far this season. Instead, he tied for 32nd at the Puerto Rico Open, held when Scottie Scheffler triumphed at Bay Hill.

MacIntyre will also play at the Myrtle Beach Classic this week, not the Wells Fargo Championship , which bodes an elite 69-player field.

“You come out here to the PGA Tour, and it’s all so unfamiliar,” added MacIntyre.

“There’s less chatting. There’s less dinners. There’s just less of that big family feel that you get on the European Tour.”

The European Ryder Cup team specifically prides itself on team camaraderie and chemistry. By extension, those principles spread the DP World Tour, where the top European players rise through the ranks.

“Sitting in player dining, you do it in Europe and you’ve got all the Scottish boys, you’ve got all the British boys,” MacIntyre added.

“A lot of the European guys, if you’re sitting on your own, they will come and join you... Out [on the PGA Tour], because you don’t know many folks, you don’t know them in that same kind of depth, they don’t come to sit with you. It does become a lonely place on the golf side of it.”

The golf courses are obviously different, too.

“It is what it is. You’ve got to get on with it. There are a lot of other things. New golf courses,” MacIntyre explained.

“Over here, they are pretty much all new, and then you’ve got the different grasses. Obviously, I was not brought up playing a lot of Bermuda, grainy grass, pitching, putting. It’s just completely different. But it’s a learning curve.”

Hopefully, MacIntyre’s experience of playing golf in the United States will improve as time passes. But for now, the Scotsman continues to struggle to grow accustomed to the difficulties of American professional golf—something that numerous European players have toiled with before and likely will do so in the future.

Yet, the Scotsman knows that plenty of opportunity awaits within the 50 states.

“It’s a great place to play golf. It’s obviously where the best players in the world are. It’s where you can make more money,” MacIntyre said.

“It’s a different environment for me, but I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can and learn as much as I can, week in and week out.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

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Canadian Open champ Robert MacIntyre withdraws from Memorial

• Field Level Media

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland withdrew from this week's Memorial Tournament on Monday, one day after winning his first career PGA Tour title at the RBC Canadian Open.

MacIntyre's victory in Hamilton, Ontario, earned him a spot in the signature event in Ohio hosted by Jack Nicklaus . But it would have been his sixth tournament in six weeks.

"This is my fifth event in a row," MacIntyre said after winning in Canada. "I was planning to do U.S. Open qualifier [Monday], 36 holes with my dad on the bag. Thankfully, that's off the cards."

MacIntyre misses out on a tournament with a $20 million prize pool, although the Memorial is one of three signature events that still has a 36-hole cut, making a payday no guarantee.

Following the Memorial are the U.S. Open and another signature event, the Travelers Championship, which the 27-year-old MacIntyre also qualified for by beating Ben Griffin by 1 shot at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Davis Thompson was added to the field in MacIntyre's place via the Aon Swing 5.

Robert MacIntyre wins his first PGA Tour title with his dad as caddie

G olfer Robert MacIntyre and his father wept for joy when he won the RBC Canadian Open, his first PGA Tour title, with his dad serving as his caddie.

MacIntyre, 27, who is without a regular caddie, brought in his father at the last minute when he couldn’t find anyone else.

His father,  Dougie,  the head greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club in Oban, Scotland, said: “It’s unbelievable. I’m a grasscutter, not a caddie.”.

‘I wanted to win for my dad’

“I’m crying with joy, but I’m laughing because I didn’t think it was possible,” said MacIntyre, a first-time PGA Tour victor on his 45th start.

MacIntyre’s $1.69 million prize money is the biggest financial win by a Scottish golfer at a single event — and enough to fulfil his wish to pay off his parent’s mortgage.

The winner recalled: “I was going down the last and my dad’s trying to tell me to stay focused and swing smooth because [on Saturday] I got a little bit too fast, but in my head I wasn’t listening to him.

“I wanted to win this for my dad. This is the guy who has taught me the game of golf and I just can’t believe I have done this with him on the bag.

“This is just everything for me and family, my girlfriend, my team.”

MacIntyre recovered from a shaky start to win by one on 16 under par at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario on Sunday (June 10).

The 27-year-old hit a closing two-under-par 68 to finish ahead of American Ben Griffin with Frenchman Victor Perez a further stroke back and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy on 13 under along with South Korea’s Tom Kim.

MacIntyre is the first Scottish player to win on the PGA Tour since Martin Laird in 2020. His  victory secures his place at the US Open, which starts on June 13 at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

Sources: BBC , CNN

Points and payouts: Robert MacIntyre takes home $1.69M, 500 FedExCup points

Golfbet News

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Father’s Day isn’t for another two weeks but that won’t stop Robert MacIntyre and his dad, Dougie, from celebrating early.

With his father serving as his caddie at the RBC Canadian Open, Robert MacIntyre prevailed by one stroke at Hamilton Golf & Country Club at 16-under 264.

It’s the lefty’s first victory on the PGA TOUR and the first breakthrough win in Canada’s national championship since Nathan Green at Glen Abbey Golf Club in 2009. MacIntyre earns 500 FedExCup points and $1,692,000.

The champ was +8000 to win pre-tournament at BetMGM, so despite the pedigree, this win very much was not anticipated, but he commissioned his father to join him in Canada as he navigated the marketplace for a permanent caddie. In the process, the father-son tandem shared what no doubt will be a permanent memory.

MacIntyre leaves Canada with a boatload of playing opportunities. For starters, he’s now exempt into the final two Signature Events – this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and the Travelers Championship on June 20-23. The victory will vault him from 76th to about 40th in the Official World Golf Ranking from which the top 60 at the conclusion of the Memorial will be exempt into the U.S. Open. He’s already in The Open Championship but he’s now exempt into the 2025 editions of The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship. His PGA TOUR membership exemption also is extended through 2026 via the winners category.

Runner-up honors at Hamilton were secured by Ben Griffin (+6600), who was also in pursuit of his first PGA TOUR title. Fellow TOUR non-winner and DP World Tour graduate Victor Perez checked up another stroke back in third. The Frenchman was +15000 to win.

Tournament favorite Rory McIlroy (+400) tied for fourth with Tom Kim (+3300). McIlroy was chasing both his third victory in the RBC Canadian Open and this season. Kim hadn’t logged a top-15 finish this year.

Defending champion Nick Taylor (+6000) missed the cut, so the honor of low Canadian was snared by Corey Conners (+2500) alone in sixth place. He edged his fellow Canuck, Mackenzie Hughes (+4000), by two strokes.

NOTE: Points and Payouts cites pre-tournament odds to win at BetMGM for all golfers who made the cut. For live odds, visit BetMGM .

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.

Rob Bolton is a Golfbet columnist for the PGA TOUR. The Chicagoland native has been playing fantasy golf since 1994, so he was just waiting for the Internet to catch up with him. Follow Rob Bolton on Twitter .

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Robert MACINTYRE

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