LOVING THE AMERICAN DREAM
MacINTYRE TRICKSHOT SHOWS HE’S RIGHT ON SONG FOR SAWGRASS
AS the tens of thousands who have watched the viral video can testify, Robert MacIntyre is clearly feeling pretty chilled about his debut in The Players Championship.
The lefty’s trickshot chip-in on the famous 17th at TPC Sawgrass, a sort of reverse sweep with a right-handed club borrowed from practice-round partner Martin Laird, definitely raised the young Scot’s profile in the States.
And it illustrated the carefree approach that typifies MacIntyre’s approach this week.
Paired with Lee Westwood and former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds, the 24-year-old insists he is not in Florida just to make up the numbers.
After making the cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last week, even building some final-round momentum after an emergency phone call to his coach on Sunday morning, he’s got the game to challenge an incredibly strong field.
‘For me, being 24 and feeling I can compete, that’s huge for me,’ said MacIntyre.
‘If I felt as if it was going to be making up the numbers, that would be tough — for me and my team. But I feel like, if I play good golf, I can compete.
‘This is huge for me and my team. We’ve worked hard every step of the way for this chance, and now we’re here.
‘It’s part of the journey that I’m on, and it’s been a fast and smooth progression through the ranks from Challenge Tour, European Tour, major events, and now, obviously, playing PGA Tour events.
‘It’s what I dreamed of as a kid — and it’s where we are now. I watched this great event for years and years and years. It’s a dream to be part of it, competing against these players.’
The chip-in from off the front of the famous ‘island’ green on 17 actually came at the request of the PGA Tour’s media department, asking players to emulate the 2015 effort of Matt Kuchar, who did well just to keep his ball on the green.
MacIntyre said: ‘Obviously being left-handed, I wouldn’t have had a problem playing it normal. But I took one of Martin Laird’s clubs out of his bag, turned it around and had a go. ‘I was just hoping it wasn’t going to go in the water!
‘It was luck. One hundred per cent luck. I was lucky to hole it but Matt’s shot was in the heat of battle.
‘The green is smaller than it looks on TV but it’s a short iron. You just focus on the target and you go.
‘But that shot that I hit was... I mean, it was just pot luck, wasn’t it? You’re standing there expecting me to hit this thing in the water, if I hit it.
‘It just came off a little bit thin, dead on line, and how it went in the hole, I don’t know. It’s just pot luck.’
MacIntyre finished with a gutsy round of level par in difficult conditions at Bay Hill on Sunday. He is taking confidence from that ahead of today’s tee-off, just before 12 noon UK time.
Revealing how a long-distance intervention from David Burns had turned his game around, he said: ‘I started hitting it better. I haven’t been striking it great, so I messaged my coach.
‘He was on red alert on Sunday morning at an airport. I got Mike, my caddie, to send him some videos while we were on the range, and he just gave us little swing thoughts that we managed to take out on the golf course.
‘I was four over through six holes or whatever and I hadn’t missed a golf shot. I felt like I played good golf.
‘I’m huffing and puffing saying this such a bad start, but Mike said: “It’s a start. It doesn’t matter. It’s a start.”
‘I was actually disappointed with level par — but that’s golf.
‘If you drive it well out here, you’ve got a good chance of scoring well. If you don’t drive it well, you’ve almost got no chance — unless you’re hitting it Bryson DeChambeau distances.
‘My game hasn’t been there the last two weeks but we’ve managed in hang in there and score all right. That’s what I do. Just fight ’til the end.’
Up to 42nd in the world golf rankings, MacIntyre is right on the bubble for next month’s Masters. That, he insists, is not something that will preoccupy him this week.
‘No, that’s on the back burner,’ he said. ‘I’m out here this week trying to compete. Hit a good tee shot off the first tomorrow and away we go.
‘The Masters will take care of itself. If I play well this week, it will take care of it. If I don’t play well, I might have taken care of it before now.
‘I’m not fussed about the Masters just now. If I get that invite, I get that invite.’
While playing partner Westwood — runner-up last week — aims to become the first English winner, MacIntyre is trying to follow in the footsteps of the great Sandy Lyle, Players champion of 1987.
‘Yeah, I’ve seen footage of that,’ he said. ‘Obviously, Sandy is a legend back home, as well.
‘I’m just going to go out here and try and play good golf. And if we’re in contention come Sunday, then we’ll give it everything we’ve got.’