Sandy convinced Robert can build on debut year
Links legend Sandy Lyle sees striking parallels with his own career when he looks at fellow Scot Robert MacIntyre’s emergence on the European Tour.
Forty-one years after Lyle was crowned Rookie of the Year, 23-year-old MacIntyre followed in the Ryder Cup ace’s footsteps after a stunning maiden season.
The Oban star chalked up three runner-up finishes on the European Tour, as well as sixth place on his major debut in The Open at Portrush.
That lifted him to 11th on the Race to Dubai rankings and elevated him to 66th in the world, earning him the prestigious award.
MacIntyre may not have won, but he hit the ground running and established himself on Tour in double-quick time.
Lyle is convinced that his compatriot has both the game, and the mental strength, to quickly build on his initial success.
He will be an extremely hard act to follow, given that Lyle – the first Briton to wear Augusta’s Green Jacket when he added the Masters title to his Open triumph three years earlier in 1985 – has won 32 titles worldwide.
But Lyle – recipient of the PGA in Scotland’s Recognition Award – said: “Robert is looking really good and it’s all very positive.
“We were all saying a few years ago: ‘Where is Scottish golf going?’, because we hardly had anybody playing in The Open and things like that.
“But it goes in waves. We might have a 10-year gap when we don’t have any Scots to cheer and then all of a sudden you can have three of them contending.”
With MacIntyre at the vanguard of a fresh-faced crop on Tour, including Grant Forrest, Connor Syme and Calum Hill, Lyle is right to feel optimistic about the future. Lyle turned professional in 1977 and won the European Tour’s qualifying school that year before winning in Nigeria in his first full season.
He recalled: “Your first year, it’s a case of kind of feeling around and it’s all a learning process.
“Some learn quicker than others. During my first year, I finished 49th on the Order of Merit, which was a pretty good achievement.
“That gave me the chance to play. But the next year, you never know, it might not happen as you’d expect it to for Robert.
“But he’s got big events, he knows the scene now, and importantly he’s got momentum.
“You have to earn that. You can’t just go into a local shop and buy it.”
MacIntyre has no plans to move away from his native
Oban. after insisting that he would far rather enjoy home comforts.
His nearest airport might be a good couple of hours away, but he’s content to get behind the wheel and chalk up the miles.
And Lyle, who divides his time between Florida and playing the senior circuit on the PGA Tour Champions and rural Perthshire, doesn’t see any problems with sticking with what you know.
He said: “I lived in Wentworth for many years and was only 15 miles or so from Heathrow. But that journey could still take over an hour at times.
“When I’m in Balquhidder, I’m 60 miles from Glasgow but can do that in just over an hour.
“Anyway, the way Robert is going, he’ll soon to able to afford a helicopter to get him to the airport.”
Meanwhile, Lyle, who last won eight years ago when he captured the ISPS Senior World Championship, has no plans to quit playing at the age of 61 after a lifetime on tour.
He added: “I still get the same buzz. There’s something in there that keeps me going.
“You know in your own mind that you have a window of so many years and there are new guys coming in at 50, who are a bit fitter, while you start sliding down the slippery slope.
“But stopping, that’s the hard thing. I think there are a few years left where I can post some decent numbers.”