From the beginning

From promising amateur to the 56th best player in the world, Oban’s Robert (Bob) MacIntyre has experienced a meteoric rise to fame on the global golf circuit.

But how did he get there?

A left-hander, Robert first offered a glimpse of his talent in 2013, when he became the first player to win the Scottish Youths’ Championship and Scottish Boys’ Open Stroke-Play Championship in the same year.

That historic double saw him pick up the coveted Adam Hunter Award at the 2014 Scottish Golf Awards and it has been onwards and upwards ever since for the Glencruitten player.

In 2014, he won the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, one of the top under-18 events on the

Great Britain and Ireland calendar, at Nizels

Golf and Country Club before building on that with an even bigger win the following season. That was landed at Muirfield, where

Robert came from four holes down at the halfway stage to beat Craigielaw’s Daniel Young by two holes in the title decider at the

Open Championship venue. He then produced another eye-catching match-play performance the following year when getting to the final of the Amateur

Championship at

Royal Porthcawl.

Robert has also enjoyed team triumphs, notably helping Scotland make it backto-back wins in the European

Championship in France in

2016. His performances that year, which also included joining forces with

Grant

Forrest and Connor

Syme to secure

11th spot for Scotland in the

Eisenhower

Trophy in

Mexico, earned him a spot in the Great Britain and Ireland team for the St Andrews Trophy.

His amateur record which saw him consistently feature within the top 15 of the WAGR (with a highest position of no. 6) secured him a place in the GB and I Walker Cup team at the Los Angeles Country Club, California. MacIntyre turned professional soon after that Walker Cup appearance and wasted no time making his mark in the paid ranks. In just his second start as a pro, he won the Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship on the MENA Tour. With a closing 65 for a 14-under-par total, he triumphed by two shots over Englishman Luke Joy in the 54hole event at Sahara Golf and Country Club in Kuwait City.

MacIntyre backed up that excellent effort by making the 72-hole cut in the European Tour Qualifying School at Lumine Golf Club in Spain, where he was never worse than 71 in six rounds. He finished joint-37th in the marathon test to secure a full Challenge Tour card in 2018. In his rookie season as a professional golfer, the 22-yearold finished second in the

Foshan Open, secured a European Tour card, and played with some of the game’s greats.

‘ I always wanted to get to the European Tour ,’ MacIntyre told The Oban Times. ‘But I didn’t expect it honestly to happen in the first year. ‘It’s been good,’ he said about his first year on the professional circuit. ‘It was a shock, and it wasn’t a shock at the same time. After my start I was a wee bit behind, but once I got going I started feeling comfortable.’

December 2018 was a massive month for MacIntyre, who secured two top 15 finishes, winning more than £31,000 in the process.

‘The money is a reward at the end of it, that’s the way I try and see it,’ he said at the time. ‘There’s going to be a time where I am in with a chance to win, a real chance coming down the last six to seven holes and for the first time it is going to be seriously nerve-racking because all you are going to be thinking about is what is on the line.

‘Not just the tournament, the finances that come with it. Just now I am just trying to enjoy it and play golf, and if I play good golf I will make money and make points.’

On his travels, MacIntyre has been paired twice with South African legend Ernie Els, and on both occasions the Oban man matched the four-time major winner.

‘The first tee shot with Ernie I could hardly tee the ball up,’ he said. ‘I put it down the middle, but it was seriously nerve-racking. To get the ball actually going forward was an achievement.’

But once he got going, McIntyre held his own, which instilled confidence into the Glencruitten golfer.

‘That’s what made me feel comfortable,’ he said. ‘Now I believe I can actually compete out there. Not just make up the numbers, actually compete for the tournaments.’

Regardless of where Robert is in the world, he is never far away from the thoughts of friends, family, and the Oban community, especially those involved with Glencruitten Golf Club, where he learned his trade.

When asked about the support at home, he said: ‘Every week I get messages, even if I am struggling. It’s not just if you are doing well. So that’s encouraging – knowing that they are not just there for the highs, they are actually trying to push you back up when you are down.’

And in the 2019 things got even better for the young golfer. In total, MacIntyre had seven top 10s on the European Tour and made 25 cuts in 30 tournaments, earning him an 11th place finish in the Race to Dubai.

MacIntyre was awarded the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award after an impressive break-out season that included three runner-up finishes and a T6 at The Open at Royal Portrush.

The then 23-year-old from Oban was announced as the winner of the award after closing out his season with a final round three-under 69 at the DP World Tour Championship, which was good enough for a 14th place finish on six-under-par.

In addition, MacIntyre also became the Challenge Tour Graduate of the year, and was quick to credit the Tour for making him the player he is.

‘The Challenge Tour has made me the player I am today,’ he said. ‘I’ve learned how to travel on my own and I’ve learned how to just spend time in my own company so it couldn’t be better.’

‘I always wanted to get to the European Tour, but I didn’t expect it honestly to happen in the first year.’