All the way to LA for Bob to be quarantined
While the European Tour gets properly back under way this week, Bob MacIntyre will have his feet up on the other side of the world.
MacIntyre is in Los Angeles, undergoing his two-week period of quarantine in the lead-up to next month’s US PGA Championship in San Francisco.
The Oban golfer is upset to be missing the British Masters at Close House, just outside Newcastle, but his spot at the PGA was one of the rewards for his sensational form of 2019.
“It took me until a couple of weeks ago to decide what to do,” MacIntyre told The Sunday Post.
“But I thought there was more to gain by playing another Major, and not just financially.
“I could do all this and miss the cut, but that doesn’t define my career.
“However, a big week and things could change and opportunities could open up for me.
“It would be massive if I could have a good week.”
Last summer, it became the norm to see MacIntyre’s name flying high near the top of the leaderboard.
The 23-year-old was agonisingly close to a maiden win – finishing runner-up three times – but he ended up 11th in the Race to Dubai, and claimed the prestigious Rookie of the Year crown.
It was in last year’s British Masters that MacIntyre’s season took off.
Some fun with his friends away from the course proved just the tonic as he arrived at Hillside in relaxed mood, eventually finishing second behind Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult.
“I had missed the cut in Morocco and skipped playing in China,” recalled Bob. “I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to do this anymore.
“I wasn’t living the life of a normal 22-year-old. It was more like a 35, 40-year-old man with a good, secure job.
“I would rather enjoy myself, and I felt like I wasn’t spending enough time with my pals.
“I played shinty three times in the week before the British Masters, and what happened there was a snowball for the rest of the season.
“People said I was mad to play shinty, that it was too risky.
“But I could turn my ankle over walking down the pavement.
“Life doesn’t revolve completely around golf.
“The way I played at Hillside was one of the best feelings ever, and a week I’ll never forget.
“Playing with Tommy Fleetwood on the final day – and trying to win a tournament – is what I had dreamed of ever since going along to watch the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond when I was a kid.”
MacIntyre would finish second at the Made in Denmark event in his next tournament, as well as at the European Open in Germany in September, but that magic win proved elusive.
Like any natural competitor, Bob has regrets about not turning one of those into victory, but he knows he’s a match for everyone out on Tour.
“I still look back and think I should have won,” he said.
“You may suffer for a week immediately after the event, but there is nothing you can do about it.
“I threw the kitchen sink at the British Masters and just fell short. In Denmark and Germany, if certain things had gone my way, I would have won by two or three shots.
“I have learned that things have to go your way to win.
“In Denmark on the back nine
I lipped out twice and shaved the hole at 18, and was punished for one bad shot.
“But I know if I play my best golf, I’ll be up there because I can compete on the European Tour.”
As MacIntyre prepares for the opening Major of 2020 with his stated goal of trying to secure a spot in The Masters for November, he still looks back fondly on his first Major.
At last summer’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush, he finished in a tie for sixth amongst a star-studded leaderboard.
“Portrush was probably the best week of my golfing life, if not my life,” the Scot admitted.
“I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
“The crowd, the atmosphere, the course. It was all top-drawer, and I was lucky to have my family and friends around me.
“If I didn’t play another Open, I would always have the memories of that one.”