St Andrews can do funny things to a golfer. The intoxicating concoction of atmosphere, history, lore and legend tends to give most folk the same tingling, multiplying chills of anticipation that John Travolta used to shriek about.
“When I was driving in on Sunday, it was the first time I've ever had goose bumps coming to St Andrews,” said Robert MacIntyre as entered the Auld Grey Toun ahead of this week’s 150th Open. “It’s funny, I used to drive in and say, ‘oh, we’re in St Andrews’. But this time it was different. If I was only to play just one Open Championship, it would be here.”
And here he is, getting to play The Open in the game’s birthplace. It’s not his first outing in golf’s most venerated major, of course. A thrilling debut at Portrush in 2019 led to him finishing tied sixth while his fondness for the big occasion was underlined last year at Sandwich where he shared eighth. It’s a mighty fine body of work and now it’s time to get to work again on The Open stage.
“It’s the dream I had as a wee boy,” added the 25-year-old as he allowed his mind to wander to the possibility of lifting the Claret Jug while wallowing in the kind of nostalgia that should’ve been accompanied by some meandering Peter Alliss whimsy.
“I’ve watched The Open on the TV since I was a wee boy when it was on the BBC,” he said of that dearly departed free-to-air coverage. “It was just so different. And it was on the tele from early in the morning and I would watch it until the last thing at night.
“Playing an Open here was something you’d always think about. Did you expect to do it, though? No, not a chance. It only comes around every now and again. When you do get the chance, you realise what an opportunity it is. If I play well, I don't see why I can't do something in this golf tournament again, like I have done the last couple of years.”
MacIntyre had made some fairly sizeable strides in his short professional journey but this game of fickle fortunes always features a couple of bumps in the road. The former Scottish Amateur champion has struggled to reel off the eye-catching results that illuminated his previous campaigns while he made the tough decision to part with the coach who was like “a brother” when he moved on from Davy Burns recently.
The young Oban lefty also concedes that he needs to work harder on his mental approach to this mind-mangling pursuit.
“I've been on a pretty steep rise since I turned pro,” said MacIntyre, who has made the cut in all nine majors that he has contested. “I think if this is my slump in my career, then I've done all right. If anything, I've got more shots in the bag this year than I did last year.
“I got the buzz back in with a decent finish in Ireland. But golf's a funny game and it's not been that kind to me lately. But it will be.”
MacIntyre cut a fairly forlorn figure when he missed the cut in the Scottish Open last week. A tee-time at an Open Championship tends to focus the mind pretty quickly. “I got here on Sunday and completely forgot about what had happened at the Scottish Open,” he said. “It's the same with most golf tournaments. After a couple of days, you forget who finished second, who finished third. It's all about the next week. That's just the world we live in. It's all about moving forward and trying to get better. This week's a new opportunity for me. It's the biggest golf tournament in the world. Who can't be excited about this?”
MacIntyre is the first to admit that his record at the Old Course is not something to write home about and fathoming out a successful path through the abundant perils and pitfalls of this ancient stretch of golfing land remains an on-going learning process. He’s getting there, though.
“I've never played this golf course that well because I never knew how to play it,” he said. “I've never seen the way the golf course was meant to be played. But this week I've seen how it's meant to be played. You start seeing different ways of getting balls to different pins.
“There's a big positive in that I'm learning the golf course better this week, especially with it being firm. There are just different ways of playing it now. When it's so firm, you can attack it with driver or you can lay it back to create an angle or whatever you want. The tighter line you take, the more risk, but the better reward.”
MacIntyre is hoping to reap plenty of rewards this week as he carries the saltire alongside Open debutant David Law and the 1999 Champion Golfer of the Year, Paul Lawrie. “I'm probably going to be a wee bit more anxious, a wee bit more nervous at the start because of what it is and where we are,” he said. “But I've just got to put everything to the side and hopefully it's going to be a memorable one.”
