Is paired with Mcilroy and Fowler
ferent. But no, it was brilliant. Aye, the shinty stick was in the bag. The 15th club. Although I don’t think the shot counted, officially.”
On the back of his eye-catching exploits over the past few months, which included second-place finishes in both the Betfred British Masters and Made in Denmark, one busload from Oban had already been confirmed to make the four-hour journey at some point this week to East Lothian. His picturesque home town on the west coast will probably be half empty now on Thursday and Friday. The hype will be huge. Macintyre knows that and, having done a great job so far in that respect, he is determined to take everything in his stride.
“I’m just going to try and learn from playing with these guys, and Rory is a guy that’s dominated the game for the last four, five, six years. So for me to get put into a group like that shows that people recognise the success you’re getting,” he said. “It’s going to be a thrill to be chatting with them down the fairways talking golf. It’s going to be something completely different from what I’m used to. It’s where you want to get to. It’s another step in the progression of my golf career and hopefully it keeps going the way it’s going and I can maybe battle with these guys down the line.
“Right now it’s just about I’m a young up and comer. I’m not the finished article, to be honest. Far from it. I’m only 22 so it’s about learning from these guys and hopefully when I’m their age, I can be one of them.”