Bob MacIntyre feeling 'great' about Dubai double-header

He did well in the wind in South Africa and now Bob MacIntyre is feeling good about tackling the earth and fire in Dubai.

Bob MacIntyre was delighted with his week's work in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images

The 24-year-old from Oban is among nine Scots in the field for this week’s Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, which is being played on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.The new event has been teed up ahead of next week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship on the neighbouring Earth Course at the same venue, with MacIntyre and fellow 2020 winner Marc Warren the only two Scots to have secured spots in the Rolex Series event at present.MacIntyre is heading into the Dubai double-header with a real spring in his step, having backed up his breakthrough win on the European Tour in the Cyprus Showdown with a top-10 finish in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek on Sunday.In a testing wind in the final round, he carded a best-of-the-day five-under-par 67, rising two spots to 61st in the world rankings on the back of his week’s work in the Rainbow Nation.“It was a great preparation for what we are trying to do and also trying to get world ranking points for the top 50 in the world,”said last season’s Rookie of the Year. “That good final round sets me up for the two events in Dubai, which I am looking forward to.“My golf game is in great shape. I’ve got a few things to tweak, but I’ve got my coach, Davy Burns, out in Dubai the next two weeks, so I’ll see him on Tuesday morning.“I’m driving the ball really well and it’s going miles - it’s the way it was last year. I also feel that I have sharpened up my short game, more so my putting.“My chipping still needs a little bit of work, but today I’d say was the best I’ve putted in quite some time.”Warren, who won the Austrian Open in July before adding a pile of Race to Dubai points with a big finish in the Scottish Open in October, is also in the field for an event that starts on Wednesday.Two-time Dubai Desert Classic winner Stephen Gallacher and Grant Forrest are teeing it up as well in the UAE, where the new event is also offering starts for Challenge Tour card holders Ewen Ferguson, Liam Johnston, Daniel Young, Craig Howie and Euan Walker.The remainder of the Scottish top tour card holders, meanwhile, have opted to play instead in this week’s South African Open, which was already on the calendar when the first of the two Dubai events was announced.Scott Jamieson and Connor Syme, who sit 66th and 68th in the Race to Dubai rankings, need a big week to climb into the top 60 for next week’s finale.They are being joined at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, where the action starts on Thursday, by David Law, David Drysdale, Calum Hill and rookie Ryan Lumsden, who has secured an invitation.

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