Bob MacIntyre: Next time I want to look at Tiger Woods not have my head down!

Bob MacIntyre is keen to be paired with golfing hero Tiger Woods and, if it happens in this year’s 150th Open at St Andrews, the Oban man will not be too embarrassed to look at him.

Tiger Woods was waiting on the 11th tee when Bob MacIntyre had to re-load in the third round of The Masters at Augusta National in April. Piture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

In the third round of the Masters in April, MacIntyre found himself dreading a journey back to the 11th tee at Augusta National to hit another drive as he knew Woods, with an army of fans following him, was in the group behind.

“I wasn’t wanting to go back,” said the Scot, smiling, as he recalled a scenario that was daunting enough on one of the toughest driving holes on the course without any added pressure, especially when it’s one of the game’s greatest players watching you re-load.

“I’d hit a bad tee shot and there was a small tree in my way. I thought I could advance it forward and Mike [Thomson, his caddie] said ‘you can’t’. I said, ‘I’m not going back to the tee, I know he’s there’.

Bob MacIntyre was speaking at a media day for this year's Genesis Scottish Open, which takes place at The Renaissance Club in July. Picture: Kenny Smith Photography.

“But I took the penalty. I didn’t even look at him or Kevin Kisner. But I thought he’s just another man and, luckily enough, found the fairway!”

MacIntyre actually thought he was going to be in the same group as Woods in that round after they’d reached the halfway stage close to each other on the leaderboard before finding himself with Lee Westwood instead.

“I thought I was getting him,” he added, the excitement over the mere prospect clear in his tone. “I’ve spoken to Phil [Mickelson] on the range at Torrey Pines, but Tiger now is the only man that I will be in awe of playing with.”

Earlier that week, MacIntyre had witnessed for the first time in his career the ‘Tiger effect’ at a tournament. “It was wild,” he said, laughing, of the excitement in the air that week as Woods made an eagerly-anticipated return after suffering serious leg injuries in a car crash in Los Angeles 14 months earlier.

“I stood on the putting green on the Monday or Tuesday and it was like a herd coming. You could hear the rumble. It was totally different. The attention on the event was unbelievable.”

Back on the prospect of playing with him, he added: “How do you prepare for it? I’ve thought about it and the hardest thing is the crowd. When he holes out, they disappear. They run everywhere. That’s the difficult part.”

Would he ever have the courage to seek Woods out for a practice round? “Never. Never,” he insisted. “I don’t think he would open up,” he went on, confirming what Jon Rahm talked about in the build up to The Masters of the times he’d played with Woods.

MacIntyre actually prefers doing his own thing in practice rounds, as will be the case with this week’s US PGA Championship, which starts at Southern Hills in Tulsa on Thursday.

“I’ve had a thing from my first major where I wouldn’t put myself out of my own comfort zone when I can control my environment,” said the 25-year-old, who is making his third appearance in the PGA of America event.

“A practice round you can pick and choose who you play with. At Portrush for The Open in 2019, I put my name down then Ian Poulter put his down and someone else. I pulled my name from it.

“I didn't want to be in a group that gets attention and scrutinised. I get it now that people will want to watch me, but I’d rather play with two pals or two guys I know well and have some fun with.”

What if Woods asks for a practice round with him? “No problem, in you come,” he said, smiling. “Until that happens, I’ll not put my name next to him. I want to play with him. Growing up he was the best I’ve ever seen. If I get the chance it’ll be something I’ll never forget.”

Even more so if that was on the Old Course at St Andrews in this summer’s milestone Open. “There is a chance,” he said of that possibility, having finished in the top 10 in his two appearances so far in the game’s oldest major. “We’ll take what we get.”

In a brilliant start to his career in the majors, MacIntyre has made eight cuts out of eight. He played his best golf so far in 2022 in The Masters and is quietly confident that another huge occasion can bring out the best in him once more.

“My game’s in great shape,” he said. “Had a phone call the other day with the whole team, what’s needing done, what’s looking good.”

The left-hander feared he’d be “hung out to dry” by performance coach Stuart Morgan, coach David Burns and caddie Mike Thomson over a costly decision at the iconic tenth hole at The Belfry that killed off his chances in the Betfred British Masters.

“No,” he said in reply to being asked if that had been the case. “We had a nice pleasant chat. There were a couple of things I need to do better. Good to see Mike making changes. I didn’t realise it on the Sunday. but he made a change in himself in the way he speaks to me, just from a commitment side of things. It’s the way forward, about committing to every shot.

“This week is a major on a tough course. The scores won’t get away from us. I don’t think I’ll need to press from the get go. These are the events I feel I have the most chance. See when the scores go to 24 to 30-under, it’s just a putting competition.

“At these majors, they rarely go past 10-under. That’s massive for me. Normally I’ll have a hiccup somewhere, but you know it may not cost as much as a normal tour event when the scoring is 20-under.

“At majors, if I get it going I can get in contention. Three-under on a tough course is brilliant. Tee to green my game is as good as it’s ever been. You know everybody will be making mistakes. On the easier courses, you make one mistake and it feels like a double bogey. It hits harder. The tougher courses play to my strengths.”