Padraig promises pint to the picture taker
EUAN McLEAN
RORY McILROY told Robert MacIntyre he enjoyed watching the Scot play on TV even before they stepped out together yesterday. By the time they’d finished the young Oban ace had given the four-time Major winning superstar a close-up view of even more good golf to savour. The 22-year-old could easily have frozen in the Scottish Open’s superstar group in the company of world No.3 McIlroy and Rickie Fowler. But instead he opened with a birdie and matched McIlroy as they stepped on to the eighth tee together sitting pretty on four under. Perhaps even more impressive is how the Scots rookie reacted when the subsequent run of three bogeys threatened to send the wheels careering off his bandwagon. He regrouped and responded with a birdie at his next hole – one of the toughest on the course, the par-four 11th – and pulled back another on 16 to eventually sign for a three-under 68. McIlroy managed to beat him by one, while frustrated Fowler languishes miles off the pace with a level-par 71. But the Irishman had already seen enough to find his first impression – watching MacIntyre finish runner-up at the British Masters in May – well and truly reinforced. McIlroy said: “He did RELIEVED Padraig Harrington promised to buy a pint for the sharp-eyed photographer who found his ball in the rough.
The Ryder Cup captain was running out of time to find his wayward approach to the 16th hole, under the new three minute time limit.
But just as he was great. I said to him I enjoyed watching him at Hillside. I can’t remember where we were in the States but I turned on the golf and he was in contention and he played very well.
“And he played great here too. He handled himself really well.
“He got off to a nice start. It was a bit of a shaky one for him around the middle but he came back with a couple of birdies coming in.”
Not that this is the first time MacIntyre has earned high praise from a European Ryder Cup hero, having been described by Tommy Fleetwood as “better than I was at 22” after they’d played together earlier this year.
But the Highlander is never one to get too cocky. MacIntyre said: “It was brilliant. I mean, the first tee, I’ve never experienced anything like that.
“On the Challenge Tour last year there wasn’t much noise at all but today it was just brilliant. I couldn’t BY EUAN McLEAN sport@dailyrecord.co.uk preparing to take the penalty and walk back up to the fairway to hit another ball from the original position, the snapper inside the ropes came to his rescue.
A nice up-and-down for birdie from there kept the Dubliner on a roll on his way have imagined a better start to my first Scottish Open.
“There were plenty of nerves. I was shaking the whole way up the first hole. I had a threefooter for the birdie and I was still shaking!
“But once that went in and I got over that hole it was free-rolling.
“Rory and Rickie are both great guys. Rory was brilliant. The two of them are as chilled out as you get.
“For me to be playing with two guys of that stature, it couldn’t have been better.
“We just talked about anything, normal day-to-day chat, nothing extravagant.
“I’m not sure what I learned yet. It was just a great experience playing with these two guys and handling the nerves.
“I was playing great. I had been struggling but I felt like I couldn’t play much better there.
“I had a couple of stupid shots, to a four under par 67 that made him happy to smile for the camera.
Harrington said: “It could have been better but it definitely could have been worse after I hit it in the rough a couple of times.
“That three minutes to find your golf ball is very short. It goes quickly. I hit it maybe mis-clubbed one. But that was my call on the par three. These things happen.
“It was a great experience but I’m going out there trying to beat these guys. That’s the only way you can think.
“You’re playing in the same tournament as these guys, they’re competing against you. So it’s just about going out and playing your best.”
While MacIntyre will have hogged the lion’s share of plaudits from the home crowd following the flagship group, the top Scot sneaked in shortly afterwards with a stylish finish that thrilled his mates watching from the clubhouse.
Draining a monster 50-foot putt from just off the 18th green would have been sweet enough for Richie Ramsay to seal a six-under 65.
But to do so in front of cheering – and, let’s face it, slightly tipsy – Renaissance Club members who he knows from his regular practice sessions around this place. Well, that made it all the better.
Ramsay said: “That is one of the longest putts I’ve ever holed.
“The members who I know, and had been enjoying themselves in the bar during the day, were quite happy with that one.
“Probably somewhere around 65 is my best score here. But when you play in a tournament compared to a bounce game it’s a different matter, so that is probably my best round.
“Knowing this is the Scottish Open is always a special feeling. You wait all year for this week to come.” left of the green on the 16th and by the time everybody looked for it, there’s not much time to spare.
“Thankfully a photographer found it but I was sweating it.
“I ended up making birdie so that photographer will get a smile for the camera. He only got a golf ball but a beer is on the way for him!”