Lefty comes out swinging
● Oban’s Macintyre sparkles with 68 at Portrush and insists he can lift the Claret Jug if he can stay in touch until Sunday
Bob Macintyre made one of the best starts by a Scot in the Open Championship in nearly 20 years then insisted he can keep himself in the mix on his major debut at Royal Portrush.
The 22-year-old left-hander from Oban twice held the outright lead in the first round of the event’s 148th edition as he produced some sparkling golf on the County Antrim coast.
Illuminated by an eagle-2 from 40 feet at the fifth, he opened with a three-underpar 68 – 11 shots better than pre-tournament favourite Rory Mcilroy – to end the day sitting two shots off the lead in joint third.
“I was taking memories from everything walking round,” said a smiling Macintyre, the pride and joy of Glencruitten Golf Club. “I just kept glancing at the leaderboards and thinking: ‘Can we win this?’”
Asked if he can, the 2015 Scottish Amateur champion replied with a tone of confidence rather than cockiness: “I think so. I just need to keep putting myself into a position to do so. Come Sunday on the back nine, if you’ve got that chance, that’s the way I play golf – I keep going at it.”
It was the best start in the game’s oldest major by a player flying the Saltire since Paul Lawrie was joint second after an opening 65 in 2012 at Royal Lytham, where, coincidentally, Colin Montgomerie was the last Scot to lead the Open outright at the end of the first day after he shot the same score in 2001.
“It was a brilliant day all around and I enjoyed every bit of it,” added Macintyre, who was one of four Scots to graduate from the Challenge Tour last season and is riding high in the Race to Dubai on the main circuit this year on the back of two second-placed finishes in successive events.
“This opportunity has come faster than I ever thought. I was expecting to have another year on the Challenge Tour. But life’s a rollercoaster – and we’ve just got to keep riding it.”
On a morning of showers, Macintyre first topped the leaderboard just before 10am after making that eagle from just off the green at the driveable fifth to move to four-under andhewasbacktherejustover an hour later.
“Once I eagled the fifth, I was talking to Greg [Milne, his caddie], saying: ‘Look, we’re leading The Open’. But we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves just now.
“It’s about jockeying in position. It’s 72 holes. We’ve only played 18. So I want to be in position come Sunday afternoon. That’s what I plan on doing. Hopefully we can do that.”
While some young professionals prefer to start out with older and more experienced caddies, Macintyre is delightedtohavemilne,ayoungirishman who is a rookie himself on the European Tour, on his bag.
The Scot credits the influence of Milne for his relaxed demeanour on the course which was evident here as he marched down the first fairway grinning from ear to ear in a group that also included Andrew “Beef” Johnston and American Kyle Stanley.
“One of the things is Greg. He’s a big part in it,” acknowledged Macintyre.
“When we walk down the fairways, we’re not talking golf. We’re talking anything. He’s into his hurling, I’m into my shinty. We just talk about absolutely anything. And also today ‘Beef’ was a big help,
“This opportunity has come faster than I ever thought but life’s a rollercoaster and we’ve just got to keep riding it”