Macintyre savours maiden European Tour victory
Bob Macintyre may have missed out on a Masters debut this week but he’s hoping to secure a first trip to Augusta National in April after landing his maiden European Tour win.
The left-hander from Oban became the 25th different Scot to taste victory on the circuit with a one-shot success in the inaugural Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown.
The victory is set to lift him to a career-best 62nd in the world rankings as the first cut-off for Masters invitations looms at the end of the year.
“It’s been my goal since we were back playing,” said MacIntyre of trying to break into the top 50 for the first time. “I know the level of golf I’m expecting to play, and my team are expecting.
“I wasn’t quite there, but now I’m injury free and starting to enjoy it.
"I’ve got to set my standards really high – if I do that, I’m sure the top 50 will take care of itself.”
R angers manager Steven Gerrard believes Bongani Zungu has already shown in just 45 minutes how much of an influence he can have on the rest of the Ibrox squad’s campaign.
South African inter national midfielder Zungu made his first appearance for Rangers since completing his season-long loan move from French club Amiens in the closing hours of the transfer window last month.
The 28-year-old replaced Ryan Jack at half-time of the crushing 8- 0 defeat of Hamilton Accies at Ibrox yesterday. R angers were 4-0 up at the break and Zungu slotted in seamlessly, playing with composure and strength at the hub of Gerrard’s midfield.
“He came into the game at a good time,” said Gerrard. “He's only going to get stronger, fitter and better. But you can see his range of passing, you can see his profile, you can see his aggressiveness. He'll give us another real strong option in the middle of midfield. I had no qualms about replacing Jacko with Bong a ni because he' s a high level footballer.”
Gerrard revealed he took Jack off to lighten the load on the Scotland international ahead of his involvement in the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia in Belgrade on Thursday. It was the same reason he left Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis, whose country face Slovakia in their final, out of his matchday squad.
"The game was done at half-time, with all due respect, and I wanted to respect Jacko and the Scotland situation,” said Gerrard. “That’s why I left Davo out – he was fit and could have played. But they have two huge finals this week.”