Positive signs as Bob returns to top form
Bob MacIntyre bounced back from his sluggish start to the season with a tied 13th place last weekend at the Ras al Khaimah Championship, presented by Phoenix Capital.
Opening up with a solid 69 on Thursday, the Oban star gradually played his way into contention with subsequent rounds of 67 and 66 to leave him 14 under par and in fifth place going into Sunday’s final round.
Realistically a win was a long shot, with big-hitting Dane Nicolai HØjgaard six shots clear and playing exceptional golf, but with Bob going bogey-free on Saturday a charge up the leaderboard was a distinct possibility.
It was not to be however, and with the left-hander not able to take advantage of the par fives on the front nine despite turning in one under par, his title bid was abruptly ended with a double-bogey at ten and ultimately HØjgaard ran out a comfortable winner.
His final round 73 might have left him well off the pace in the end, but there were huge positives to take from his performance over the four days. Not least a bogey-free 35 hole run from mid round Friday through to the back nine on Sunday saw a consistency that
had been missing in his first two tournaments this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his Saturday round it was obvious that Bob’s confidence had returned saying: ‘I felt I played great… I felt I had full control of my golf ball,’ adding ‘for a wee while I was trying to do things differently and it wasn’t working, but this week’s the week we’ve got back to playing golf the way we know how to play golf.’
No doubt he will be disappointed not to have scored better on Sunday, but the tournament marked a huge step back to form for the Oban left-hander.
Bob will be on familiar territory when he tees it up today (Thursday) at the Ras al Khaimah Classic, as it is played over exactly the same course as last week.
That must be a good omen for the Oban man as the last tournament that was played over the same course as the previous week was in Cyprus in 2020. The winner? A certain Robert MacIntyre.