Bob MacIntyre aims to keep calm as he bids to secure PGA Championship spot

Bob MacIntyre is hoping his new plan to stay calm can help him secure a spot in next month’s PGA Championship as he bids to overcome the disappointment of missing out on The Masters this year.

Bob MacIntyre and caddie Mike Thomson pictured during a practice round for the Korea Championship Presented by Genesis at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. Picture: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

The Oban man, who had played in the season’s opening major at Augusta National the previous two years, is currently on course to be in the field at Oak Hill on 18-21 May but will be looking to strengthen his position before the upcoming cut-off.

Heading into this week’s Korea Championship Presented by Genesis, MacIntyre sits 98th in the Official World Golf Ranking, with players in the top 100 otherwise not exempt on 8 May earning berth in the PGA of America event.

The cut-off could even go beyond the top 100 and, in addition to this week’s $2 million event at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, MacIntyre also has a return to Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome for a DS Automobiles Italian Open title defence next week to try and cement his spot in the second major of the year.

The 26-year-old is in good fettle for this week’s assignment, having signed off with a best-of-the-day 64 on Sunday in the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan to record a second successive top-ten finish on the DP World Tour after getting himself in the mix in Kenya before signing off for a five-week break.

During that, MacIntyre and his team came up with a plan to try and help him stay calm on the course, having acknowledged himself that he can get a bit hot-headed at times, and it certainly seemed to work as it was tested out for the first time.

“It was really good,” said the left-hander of his closing salvo at PGM Ishioka Golf Club in Omitama, where he joined two of his compatriots, Calum Hill and Grant Forrest, in securing to-ten finishes behind Australian Lucas Herbert.

“The golf course played tough on Sunday, it was firm and the wind blew. It was a good golf course. You knew if you scored well, if you were a couple under par, you would move up. Just happy to finish it off well.

“This season I have been good tee to green, just the putter has been a bit cold. I’m trying not to get too emotional, whatever happens just hit it, deal with it, hit it again. That’s what I’m trying to do and last week it worked.

“I think I only had three holes where it wobbled a little bit. That was in the second round, I had two double bogeys within three holes, but we dealt with it and got on with it. Everyone gets annoyed and a bit stressed, it’s just recognising it is there and doing something to sort it.”

MacIntyre joins in-form Forrest, Hill, Richie Ramsay, David Law and Scott Jamieson in flying the Saltire on a course that hosted the Presidents Cup in 2015, when the US, led by Jay Haas, narrowly beat an International team captained by Nick Price. “Jack Nicklaus doesn’t put his name to the golf course unless it’s a good course. The clubhouse is stunning and we know it will be a good venue,” said MacIntyre

Polish trailblazer Adrian Meronk heads a field that also includes Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, who was pleased with his return in Japan after taking some time off to get over a shoulder injury that forced him out of the Hero Cup in January.