Bob MacIntyre's Ryder Cup chances get mother of all endorsements despite accent challenge
Spaniard says Scot has game to get in the mix in majors in 2025
Jon Rahm reckons Bob MacIntyre has the game to get in the mix in majors this year and also delivered a positive soundbite about him when asked if the Oban man can be part of Europe’s Ryder Cup defence in New York in September.
The Spaniard was speaking after the pair played together in the opening two rounds of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and, though disappointed to miss the cut himself in the opening Rolex Series event on the 2025 DP World Tour schedule, he was more than happy to deliver his personal assessment of MacIntyre’s progress since they were Ryder Cup team-mates for the first time in Rome two years ago.
“I absolutely love Bob, even though I only get about 35 per cent of the words he says as it is quite a thick accent and an accent I’m not used to,” said the two-time major winner with a smile despite making an early exit at Emirates Golf Club after a second-round 77. “He’s just a great player to be around. I feel like we have quite a similar character. In a way, we understand each other and he’s just a fun person to be around.”
After winning both the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open last year, MacIntyre has started the 2025 campaign inside the world’s top 15 and will be playing in all four majors this year, as well as the Signature Events on the PGA Tour.
“He’s just a fantastic player,” added Rahm of the left-hander. “Two wins last year, one big one being the Scottish Open and him being at home and producing a birdie-birdie finish after almost doing it the previous year.
“Yeah, plenty of talent and plenty of capabilities. It doesn’t take much to get to a different level and he definitely has more than enough talent to do that.”
MacIntyre was unbeaten in his three games as Europe regained the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Italy in 2023 and part of the reason he’s made a marathon journey from Hawaii to the UAE to play in this week’s event is to bolster his bid to secure an automatic spot once again in Luke Donald’s team for a defence at Bethpage Black in September. “I ******* hope so!” replied Rahm to being asked if he thought MacIntyre would be there.
Making cuts on a consistent basis in big events will certainly help in that respect and the 28-year-old made it three in a row to start his 2025 campaign by following an opening 71 on the Majlis Course with a 69 that contained six birdies to sit on four under at the halfway stage.
“Yesterday, I walked off and said to the team that the old me would have been three over par, been out of the golf tournament and struggling to make the cut whereas getting it in at one under yesterday was strong,” said MacIntyre of digging in before finishing birdie-birdie.
“I was getting annoyed when I didn’t birdie ten then chased the pin and found the bunker at 11 and then again at 12 and short-sided it and, to be fair, Mike (Burrow, his caddie) said to me ‘you can’t chase around here’.”
For the first time in a while, MacIntyre reckoned he’d had a good day on the greens in his circuit, which was book-ended by bogeys but included birdies at the third, fifth, seventh, tenth, 11th and 16th in between those blips on the magnificent Majlis Course.
“Aye, it was solid and it is good to see a few putts actually dropping and also holing a couple of par putts when we needed them today,” he said with a smile. “I’ve holed absolutely nothing in the last what feels like seven tournaments or so and the last two weeks have been terrible with the putter.
“We’ve pretty much done a drastic change for this week, to be honest with you. We’ve changed the putter, the grip, went cross hand, put a line on the ball. I mean, it is completely off the wall this week. It’s just to try and shock the system and it’s been decent so far.
“It’s a full change as it couldn’t get any worse than it had been. The technique is still the same, but the putter works slightly different with it. It’s more trusting the hands and it feels different when I am standing over a short putt. Because I’m a dead-weight putter, I have to force myself to hit it a little bit softer.”
With compatriot Ewen Ferguson heading into the weekend on 12 under, MacIntyre has some ground to make up, but he’s playing with real confidence these days and adding his name to a trophy that has both Colin Montgomerie and Stephen Gallacher on it is not beyond the realms of possibility.
“I don’t know, maybe six?” he replied to being asked to rate his work so far. “It’s decent, but it’s not electric. But it doesn’t need to be electric to be in golf tournaments. It just needs to be decent and then hope things fall your way and you hole the right putts at the right time. Yeah, the leader is on 12 under and I’m eight behind, but it’s only one guy, so we are still right in the golf tournament.”
Which is a feat in itself given that he didn’t feel he had as much time at home as he’d have liked after ending his 2024 campaign in the Bahamas early last month before heading to Hawaii before the bells had rung on the start of a new year.
“I’d rather it had been longer, but it is part of the schedule and you have to keep going,” he declared. “When you see good signs in your game, you are not panicked whereas when everything is off the stress levels are high.
“But, when your tee to green game is good and you are playing a golf course that is tough to green and feels it is suiting you, you feel good because I’ve only had one problem recently and that’s been the putter. I’ve been trying so hard to fix it and, as well as being good to roll putts, these greens are quick as well.”
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