Magic MacIntyre breaks his duck at last
Oban man on mark in Cyprus for first title
HE’S had some close shaves, a few near misses and has knocked on more doors than an Avon lady but finally, wonderfully, Robert MacIntyre is Scotland’s latest European Tour winner.
Amid the clouds of a global pandemic, there was a shimmering silver lining for the 24- year- old as he conjured a thrilling final flurry to win the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown yesterday.
After three second- place finishes during his sparkling rookie year in 2019, MacIntyre at last got himself over the winning line with a superbly assembled seven- under 64 which featured a brace of decisive birdies at 17 and 18.
MacIntyre almost holed his tee- shot at the penultimate hole as he hunted down Japanese pacesetter Masahiro Kawamura, who had set the six- under target. That tap- in birdie on 17 – “that was huge” – left the Scot tied at the top and he finished things off on the 18th with a calm, composed and clinical conclusion to a rousing display.
A fine drive and a sturdy approach into the heart of the green gave him two- putts for victory. The birdie was gobbled up with glee and the celebrations could begin. The roars of jubilation back in Oban, meanwhile, would have cracked the granite of McCaig’s Tower.
In a catch- up with Herald Sport a couple of weeks ago, MacIntyre admitted that life in the restricted environment of the tour’s corona virus induced bubble had been hard to deal with mentally.
The former Scottish Amateur champion conceded that he “wasn’t at the races” performance- wise but there have been encouraging signs and, on the back of last week’s share of third on Cypriot soil, his prolonged stay on the Mediterranean island reaped the ultimate reward.
“I struggled mentally from about eight, 10 weeks after lockdown, almost when it opened up slightly,” reflected MacIntyre, whose win handed him a cheque for around £ 180,380 and catapulted him up to 24th spot on the Race to Dubai rankings. “It felt like you were getting released into the open but you were still getting told what to do and that was tough for me.
“But everyone knows that my family are right behind me and the support that I get from them is huge.
“I went to see a psychologist, who has helped me, helped me in a huge way. I was coming down the stretch there just knowing what to do – just take your time and be yourself.
“What will happen will happen and it’s happened today.”
During a three- day whittling down process, which eventually left 19 players standing in the final round yesterday, the scores were reset and the closing round teed- up the kind of frenzied shoot- out you used to get at the OK Corral.
At one point of a dingdong afternoon, there was a seven- way tie at the summit as the final group reached the turn. Kawamura was making menacing advances and drove the green at the 14th before two- putting for birdie to break free of the log- jam.
MacIntyre was still very much in the thick of it, though, and a cracking approach to 10- feet at the 13th spawned a birdie.
A brief delay caused by a thunderstorm didn’t halt any of MacIntyre’s momentum and he rolled in a birdie on the 15th to stay in the hunt.
With Kawamura making a fine a up and down on the last for a birdie to reach the six- under mark, MacIntyre then produced that nerveless, title- winning salvo which underlined just what a talent he is.