Bob’s brilliant debut season
Oban’s rising European Tour star Bob MacIntyre brings the curtain down on his brilliant debut year on the European tour by entering arguably the most exciting and potentially lucrative part of his season.
Having finished a more than creditable 17th in his inaugural World Golf Championship event at the weekend – Bob’s nine under par total saw him finish ahead of major winners Francesco Molinari, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry – the Glencruitten club member has comfortably qualified for the Race to Dubai Final series which kicks of in Turkey this week.
Bob currently sits ninth in the Race to Dubai and, remarkably for a rookie, is guaranteed to tee up in the three remaining events of the season. The Turkish Open is followed by the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, with the DP Tour Championship in Dubai on November 21.
In total the three tournaments offer $22.5million prize money, with an additional $5m bonus pot shared between the top five in the standings.
With significant world ranking points also up for grabs in all three events, a strong finish to the season could see Bob significantly improve on his current world ranking of 83, as well as add to the 1.7million Euro prize money he has banked so far this season.
Bob said: ‘What a schedule and, to be honest, I didn’t really expect to be in this position heading into the final few weeks of the season. My goal at the start of the season was to keep my card somehow but, as I have discovered, things can move fast in this game and I will certainly be aiming to enjoy this exciting end to the campaign.
‘My game has been good all year. I’ve actually been disappointed with some results but, overall, I’m over the moon with how things have gone and where I am sitting in the Race to Dubai, having climbed to ninth position.
‘The ultimate goal for the rest of the year is to try and get into the world’s top 50 before Christmas as that would take care of everything for next year.
‘It is my first time playing a WGC and also the first time playing the final few events in the Race to Dubai. If I can go into these next few weeks and throw in some good performances, I don’t see why I can’t achieve that ultimate goal.
‘But it’s just about trying to finish as high up the Race to Dubai as I can and pick up as many world ranking points as I can.
‘People obviously have expectations about me now, but I don’t really worry about that. I just go and play golf. If it’s good, then great, but if not, I will just have to go away and work on something.’