Macintyre is hopeful for morning luck

Robert Macintyre walked off the 14th green in his first round at Royal St George’s at three-over, but it didn’t feel that bad.

“I said to Mike (Thomson) when I walked off 13 or 14 that I felt like I was playing good,” he said. “Tee to green I thought I was fairly solid until late on there, when I hit two horrific wedge shots on the last two holes – but got out with pars.

“I felt like it was tough. I was looking at the leaderboards and thinking:

“How am I getting close to six-under par?”

“Webb Simpson had a score of four-under this afternoon and that was incredible.

“I just have to keep playing the way I’m playing. I’m due a good score and keep feeling I’m coming off the course with the worst score I could have made. Golf gets that way at times.”

Macintyre missed a great chance to start with birdie but soon found the tougher afternoon conditions against him.

“I thought my putt was in on the first,” he said.

“I was just trying to work myself into a golf tournament rather than out of a golf tournament.

“I’d watched some of the golf this morning. But some of those holes this afternoon, I didn’t have enough ammo in the bag to get there. It’s links golf. Two over par isn’t horrific. I’m not out of it. It’s a start, that’s the way I see it.”

The hope is that the conditions equal themselves out for the second round.

“You’ve got to hope that it’s going to be the exact same tomorrow, a little bit

calmer early on,” he said.

“This afternoon you went into the rough downwind, you had no chance, because you couldn’t get enough club on to it. It’s a fight and a grind, but I enjoyed every bit of it.”

His sole birdie came on the 16th, but the putt

on the 15th was key to that.

“I hadn’t holed a putt. With wind, I struggle with momentum on the greens. If I don’t hole early, I don’t see the lines.

“I knocked the one in on the 15th because of rage. Hit a great tee shot and it

pitched clean into a bunker.

“I hacked it out to leave a number and holed the putt out of anger.

“When I play my best tee to green, I don’t think about one thing. I just swing the club and the ball takes off exactly where I’m aiming it.”

TOUGH: Robert Macintyre wasn’t on the fortunate side of the draw and had to fight the winds.