Bob MacIntyre has his say on Shane Lowry caddy-gate and how he 's glad mics didn't catch him at The Masters

Bob MacIntyre reckons he could easily have joined Shane Lowry in a public display of how caddies can often get a hard time at the top of the professional game.

Robert MacIntyre and his caddy Mikey Thomson during the final day of The Masters.

“Yep, I’m glad the mics didn’t catch me a couple of times last week,” said the Scot, laughing, as he reflected on the 86th Masters at Augusta National.

MacIntyre was referring to Lowry letting off steam to his caddie, Bo Martin, during the third round of the season’s opening major in Georgia.

The 2019 Open champion laid up on the par-5 13th only to show he’d been unimpressed by the distance he then had for his third shot.

Picked up by microphones close by, Lowry said: "Left myself no shot. What a f****** s*** layup that was. Well done, well done Bo. Only 30 yards out. Well done."

The pair had made up by the end of the round and, helped by Martin’s valuable input, Lowry went on to finish joint-third behind Scottie Scheffler – his best finish in seven starts in The Masters.

“They understand it,” said MacIntyre, who has had Fifer Mikey Thomson on his bag since the 2020 Scottish Open “Bo’s got thick skin. Mike’s got thick skin.

“I think to be a caddie you’ve got to know that your player is going to get stressed and you are going to get hit. You’re a punchbag. You are there to take it sometimes. It’s about letting it roll off you and supporting the player.

“I think Bo has done an unbelievable job with Shane and Mike is doing a good job with me.”

In another player-caddie episode at Augusta National, Matt Fitzpatrick and the experienced Billy Foster also seemed to have a slight squabble.

Also on the 13th, though in the second circuit, Fitzpatrick seemed to be unsure about the yardage he’d been given by the man who caddied for both Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros.

As he stepped back from the ball, Foster, in his typical forthright manner, said: "We've both thought about it and decided it's the right play, so get on with it."

In fairness, Fitzpatrick didn’t seem to be offended. "Oh sorry, are you in a rush?" he said, to which Foster responded: "No, there's no rush."

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