Lefty Macintyre is able to take great
Scottish rookie professional Robert Macintyre thumped the latest American golden boy, Cameron Champ, in his amateur days.
Now the left-hander from Oban has set his sights on making his own mark in the pro ranks after securing a dream European Tour card for next season. Macintyre joined Grant Forrest, Liam Johnston and David Law in graduating from the Challenge Tour in the UAE last weekend, sealing the best-ever season for Scottish players on the second-tier circuit.
The new young blood will rub shoulders with the cream of European golf, including fellow Scots Russell Knox, Stephen Gallacher, Scott Jamieson, David Drysdale, Richie Ramsay and Paul Lawrie.
Macintyre, the Scottish Amateur champion in 2015, is relishing the opportunity and is drawing extra confidence from his GB&I Walker Cup victory over Champ 14 months ago.
The Glencruitten player defeated big-hitting Champ 6&4 in the Saturday afternoon singles at the Los Angeles Country Club, then halved their match the following day – with Macintyre one of the shining lights for the visitors in an overall 19-7 defeat. Champ, 23, has since strolled through Web.com qualifying to reach the PGA Tour and made a sudden impact with his debut victory at the Sanderson