Bob MacIntyre braced for big 'culture change' on PGA Tour but 'wowed' by new Florida base

Scot talks about new American adventure ahead of his first start as PGA Tour card holder

Bob MacIntyre has been pleased with the early benefits of being based in Floirda at this time of the year after barely being able to pick up a club at home in Oban due to the recent wet weather. Picture: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images.

You can never criticise Americans for lacking enthusiasm. Just ask Bob MacIntyre, who, just two days in to his new adventure in the Land of Free/Home of the Brave as a PGA Tour card holder, had only ordered a cup of coffee at a drive-thru in Orlando yet was met with the sort of frenzy that he’d experienced as a member of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team in Rome last September. “I was actually laughing in the car over the enthusiasm over making a cup of coffee - it was off the charts!” he said, smiling.

While there are lots of places in tourist-friendly Oban, of course, where staff are eager to provide customer satisfaction, there’s no denying a distinct culture change is going to provide MacIntyre, a self-confessed homebird, with his biggest challenge as he swaps the sleepy west coast of Scotland for the hustle and bustle of the US, where the 27-year-old sets out at the start of his 2024 campaign this week by teeing up in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

“It’s just completely different. Everything,” he admitted, having plumped for Florida as his base in the States after talking to the likes of Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Sepp Straka, three of his Ryder Cup team-mates in the 16.5-11.5 win over the Americans at Marco Simone Golf Club on the outskirts of the Italian capital, and hearing what they had to say about living over there. “I think in Scotland we have a culture of kind of knocking each other down and not letting anyone get too high. Whereas over here, from my experiences, they try to get right up there and are really, really enthusiastic.

Bob MacIntyre was joined during the start of his spell in the US, where he is playing this year as a PGA Tour card holder, by coach Simon Shanks. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

“It’s just the culture is different. I’ve been on the street in Oban and it is nice and chilled. There’s no-one going to pester you, or anything like that. You don’t feel as though you go somewhere and you get fed up with it. Whereas over here, I feel like you go places and it is overkill. I’m that chilled guy, so the house might be one of the best places for me over here other than the golf course.”

Isleworth, where the championship course was originally designed by Arnold Palmer and the plush private community is now owned by the Tavistock Group, will be MacIntyre’s base when he’s in Orlando. He was joined there for a few days last week by his coach, Englishman Simon Shanks, and, admittedly influenced by the weather back home having been wet and miserable since getting back from a trip to Australia in November, discovered straight away that the Sunshine State certainly has its advantages for professional golfers. “Last Friday, I left the golf course at dark and was still in a t-shirt,” he said, speaking as a hard frost had hit his beloved home country. “It just amazes me the opportunity and chances I have. It has wowed me a little bit, the whole place.”

Helped by finishing second behind Rory McIlroy in the Genesis Scottish Open, MacIntyre joined Adrian Meronk, Ryan Fox, Victor Perez, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alexander Bjork, Sami Valimaki, Matthieu Pavon, Jorge Campillo and Ryo Hisatsune in securing a PGA Tour card for this year after an official pathway was created through the US circuit’s Strategic Alliance with the DP World Tour. MacIntyre, of course, is no stranger to playing on the PGA Tour but, with his first appearance of 2024 on the DP World Tour likely to be his home Open at The Renaissance Club in July, this is different.

“This year, the living side of it is almost like a trial run, to be honest,” admitted the left-hander. “It’s trying to work out: Is this the best place for me? Is America the right place for me to live? There’s a couple of things I’ll be working out over the year, but when I have been up there (at Isleworth) the last two days, the facilities and the weather, there’s no excuses. Look, there’s going to be a lot of pros and less cons. Some things are really going to annoy me, some things I am going to love. It’s just working out what is best for the old head.”

Bob MacIntyre will be based at Isleworth when he's at home in Orlando in between events on the PGA Tour. Picture: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.

While Meronk, Fox, Olesen and Campillo have decided to start their calendar campaigns on the DP World Tour by committing to a double-header in Dubai, MacIntyre is wasting no time in making full use of his new status. In addition to the Sony Open in Honolulu, he’s also teeing up in The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open then taking a week off back in Orlando before the WM Phoenix Open, Mexico Open, Cognizant Classic, Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Houston Open and Texas Open all look set to be on his early-season schedule. “Well, you have almost been given a golden ticket and, for me, it is like a free shot at the PGA Tour,” said the Scot. “Go and get your card secured up by August and then come back to the DP World Tour and then, hopefully, you play well and secure that card.”

Starting out his year in 58th spot, one of his first goals in 2024 will be to break into the top 50 before 7 April - the final cut-off for Masters invitations, having finished in the top 25 in his first two appearances at Augusta National before being bitterly disappointed to sit out the season’s opening major last year. “I think it will improve everything,” he replied to being asked if being based in the US can lead to another eye-catching run in majors after chalking up top-ten finishes in his first two outings in The Open. “If I use it right and practice the right ways, it can only help. Whether the results get better, I don’t know. That depends on me and the mind at events and stuff like that. But, as an all-round golfer, the facilities can only improve me.”

He won’t be struggling for friends, either, and not just because the likes of familiar faces such as Meronk and Edinburgh-based Perez will also be in PGA Tour fields as the season progresses. “I think there’s 11 other guys now I get on well with that if I am at an event, I can give them a call, go for dinner and stuff,” noted MacIntyre, smiling, of his Ryder Cup team-mates.