Bob MacIntyre admits 'I feel like I am letting people down at times' as he opens up on wanting to deliver Scottish success

Oban man opens up on his desire to deliver Scottish success in golf’s biggest events

Bob MacIntyre has opened up on how his desire to deliver Scottish success at the top level in golf often leaves him thinking that “I am letting people down”.

The Oban man has built up a small army of fans since bursting onto the scene by finishing in the top ten on his major debut in The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019 then emulating that feat at Royal St George’s two years later in the Claret Jug event.

He then had a nation willing him to win last year’s Genesis Scottish Open only to be denied by a brilliant birdie-birdie finish from Rory McIlroy at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian.

Bob MacIntyre was cheered on by the home fans as he came close to winning last year's Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

MacIntyre also enjoyed a huge backing from people in his beloved home country when helping Europe win back the Ryder Cup in Rome last year and it was the same when he was in the mix heading into the final round in last week’s PGA Championship in Kentucky.

“It feels great,” said the 27-year-old, speaking exclusively to The Scotsman, in reply to being asked if he felt he had a nation behind him in big events. “The hardest one I’ve ever had was the final six holes on the back nine in the 150th Open at St Andrews (in 2022). I needed to be level par for that stretch and the back nine on the Old Course is my worst nightmare when the wind is off the right and you’ve got out of bounds up the right, bunkers up the left and, with modern equipment, you ain’t drawing it much.

“I had so many people shouting for me. My family and friends don’t shout for me. Well, my mum might shout, but the others will clap and cheer. But the crowd that day were really shouting and I still remember my second shot into 16. I’ve hit it well left to make sure that I have a second shot.

“I’m waiting for the green to clear and I had to turn away from the shot as I knew I just wanted to step in and hit it when it was my turn. It is difficult at times when there’s expectation on you. I feel like I am letting people down at times, but that’s just because I know how much support I am getting from them.”

What does he mean exactly by letting people down? “Just that they are there hoping for me to do well and they are backing me and cheering me on,” he explained. “When it doesn’t go the right way, it’s more a disappointment for me that I’ve not shown them my best. It’s part of the game. I’m going to lose more times than I win and miss cuts along the way. I’m alright with it as long as the majority of the stuff I produce is good.”

As was the case as he finished joint-eighth behind first-time major winner Xander Schauffele in the PGA Championship at Valhalla and also when he closed with a brilliant 64 in tough conditions to come within a whisker of Genesis Scottish Open glory last summer.

“It’s never going to change,” he said of his home Open being an event he dreamt of playing in one day and also win it. “It’s the one golf tournament outside of the majors that I want to win in my life. And obviously last year I came so close. If I’ve got another ten years at that, I hope to have one or two other chances to have a real opportunity to win it.

“Looking back at last year, I think it was a four per cent chance of Rory finishing the way he did but, let’s be honest, Rory is in the 0.4 per cent of golfers on the planet. So, if there was someone going to do it, it was going to be him. Look, I prefer to lose a golf tournament that way than the week prior to that in Denmark, where I hit one bad shot that finished the golf tournament for me.

“Whereas a week later at the Scottish Open I hit so many good golf shots. Yes, I made a bogey on 16, but it was blowing a hurricane at that point. Other than that, I thought it was flawless, especially the last round in the wind and what not. Yeah, looking back on it, to lose it the way I did, I just held up my hands as I lost it to one of the greatest players in the game.”

He’s already looking forward to being back on Scotland’s Golf Coast in July for this year’s edition of the Rolex Series event, admitting he gets goosebumps just thinking about how the home fans got behind him coming down the home stretch last year.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he admitted. “When I holed the putt on 14, the par 3, from about 15 foot, having taken the cap off as it was blowing that hard, that’s when I thought I might have a chance. I didn’t know exactly where I was sitting, but I knew I was up there. It turned out that I’d taken the lead and I thought ‘this could happen’ and the crowd was incredible.

“I then hit two perfect shots into 15 to two feet and that was probably the most nerve-wracking putt I’ve ever had. Yes, it was only a two-footer but the wind was howling across me and going with the slope. As a result of that, I had to step off it as I knew it was important. The walk up 18 after I’d my second shot, it literally felt it was a football stadium full of fans shouting for me.

"It’s everything I've wanted since I watched Scottish Opens as a kid at Loch Lomond. I dreamt of walking up the 18th hole there with the crowd up the right hand-side and what happened at The Renaissance Club was an unbelievable experience.”