LEGENDS LIFT BOB’S HOPES
BOB MacINTYRE reckons a night in Sun City with Sam Torrance, Ken Brown and Dougie Donnelly was just the tonic to steer him to Rookie of the Year glory in Dubai.
The 23-year-old caught up with the Scottish golf legends for dinner just after his second round of 76 saw him tumble down the Nedbank Challenge leaderboard.
But inspired MacIntyre then posted a brilliant daythree 65 on the way to grabbing a share of eighth place and go back ahead of his nearest Rookie of the Year rival, Kurt Kitayama.
Now the rivals are set to tee off together in today’s first round of the DP World Tour Championship.
MacIntyre said: “It was absolutely brilliant meeting up with Sam, Ken and Dougie.
“My state of mind when I came off the course was not good and although my head was clear by the time I went to dinner, to listen to some of the stories they had from their time on tour was brilliant.
“They didn’t treat me any differently. They just treated me as one of the boys. It was normal chat and was just what I needed, especially after the way I’d played on Friday.
“It was a bit of a reality before getting back down to playing golf the next day.”
With MacIntyre ranked 11th on the Race to Dubai and Kitayama 12th, the
Scot needs only to finish ahead the American to earn the rookie honours.
He said: “It would mean a lot to end my season as Rookie of the Year.
“It’s in my control on one hand but on the other it’s also out of my control.
“If Kurt goes out and wins it then hats off to him.
“But if I go out and hit every shot the way I want to then it might take care of itself.
“But I’m not going to get ahead of myself. I’ve got the first tee shot to hit on Thursday morning and that’s all I’m really worrying about just now.
“I’ve got to take care of myself, first and foremost. I feel as though I’ve been getting ahead of myself a bit. I’ve probably been thinking too much about landing that breakthrough win.
“If it’s this week then great. If not we’ll have another 30 events next year to give it a go.”