Bob MacIntyre on his Open shopping 'carnage' with mum on Merseyside

Forget the frenzy he created with his finish in the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday. According to Bob MacIntyre, that was nothing compared to a visit to a local supermarket with his mum, Carol, on Monday as they stocked up on supplies for a rented house for the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.

A smiling Bob MacIntyre waits on the fifth tee with caddie Greg Milne during a practice round prior to The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool. Picture: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

“It reminded me that a bad round of golf is not as bad as being in the shop with my mum doing the shopping for the week,” joked MacIntyre, speaking outside the clubhouse at the Hoylake venue, where he is spearheading a seven-strong Scottish contingent in the season’s final major. “I mean, it was carnage in there. I’ll stick to the golf course. But it’s nice to go back to normal life after a hectic finish to the week.”

He was referring, of course, to Sunday, when he produced a wonder shot at the 72nd to set up a sensational closing 64 - the best score by three shots in a gusting westerly wind at The Renaissance Club - to establish the clubhouse target in the Genesis Scottish Open only to be denied by a brilliant birdie-birdie finish from Rory McIlroy.

“It is going to take me a while to get over that one. It was a sore one,” admitted MacIntyre, having had a full day to reflect on the dramatic finish in the $9 million Rolex Series event. “But I did everything right, everything that I could. That’s the attitude I’ve taken away from it. I gave it everything. I thought the putt on the last was to win the tournament. I had to hole it. Unfortunately it wasn’t to win.

Jon Rahm and Bob MacIntyre shake hands after playing together in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

“I’ve taken a lot from that. That approach to 18 gets better and better every time I look at it. It’s the best shot I’ve hit, ever, with everything that was going. I thought 14-under would win. I didn’t sleep too well on Sunday night with everything that was going on. I woke up thinking ‘how did I not win it?’. But that’s golf.”

On the back of his performance on the East Lothian coast, the Oban man has moved into one of the automatic spots in Luke Donald’s European team for the Ryder Cup in Rome in September. Shane Lowry said he’d “happily” go into battle against the Americans with MacIntyre at his side and Masters champion Jon Rahm also reckons the left-hander should now be in the home ranks at Marco Simone Golf Club.

“If somebody who can do that, shoot six-under in those weather conditions, is not a candidate, I don't know who else can be,” said Rahm, speaking in his press conference for The Open on Merseyside. “Yeah, he should definitely be a candidate. I like his chances.”

Told about the praise from the two major winners, MacIntyre said: “It’s a dream of mine to play in a Ryder Cup. Getting words like that from these top, top players, I couldn’t think of a bigger confidence boost. I still have work to do to make that team. If I’m not an automatic then it’s out of my hands, but I just need to look after myself, go out there and win events and it will take care of itself.”

By the sounds of things, two-time major winner Rahm had been watching the denouement on Scotland’s Golf Coast. “That is important,” added MacIntyre, who is bidding to become the first Scot to play in the biennial event since Stephen Gallacher’s appearance on home soil at Gleneagles in 2014.

“It gives me a massive smile. It’s so hard to know what Luke is thinking, what his plans are. You can’t control that. I’ve done everything right the last wee while. Obviously I had some changes with the (backroom) team, but we’ve had the results to back that decision up. Last week was a fairytale.”

On his debut in the Claret Jug event, the 26-year-old tied for sixth at Royal Portrush in 2019 before adding another top-ten finish two years later at Royal St George’s. He’s been paired with Shane Lowry and Rickie Fowler for the opening two rounds in this edition and is excited to see what he can do.

“It is good,” he said of both his Open record and the fact he’s coming into this week after handing himself an almighty confidence boost. “There’s a lot of expectation on me from various places, but I’m just going to do what I do. I will take it as easy as I can. I was so relaxed last week. I wasn’t nervous, I just played golf and that’s because I’m enjoying it again.”

His timing in terms of the Ryder Cup qualifying campaign couldn’t have been better. After this week’s event, there are only three regular tournaments to come on the DP World Tour before Donald announces his team on 4 September.

“Yes,” he replied to being asked if he felt he needed a performance like the one last week after slipping down the points list following his flying start as he won the DS Automobiles Italian Open on the Ryder Cup course at Marco Simone Golf Club last September.

“But I knew my game was in good shape, I just couldn’t piece it all together at once. There were just little bits missing here and there. But Greg (caddie) has been a big help, from the point of attitude. We are just having a laugh. We're two boys playing in some of the biggest events and just taking the mickey out of each other. I wasn’t nervous last week because we chatted about anything and everything.

“The only time I was nervous was standing over that last putt, because I had time to think, I knew what it was for. I get everything that could potentially come with it, but I just had to hole it. I stepped back in to it and holed it.”