Bob MacIntyre: Social media sniping annoys me but it won't change what I do

The snipers have been taking pot shots at the Scots since Sunday, when first Bob MacIntyre then Richie Ramsay let a chance to win the DP World Tour’s Made in HimmerLand event in Denmark slip from their grasp.

NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND - JULY 11: Robert MacIntyre of Scotland talks to the media during a press conference prior to the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on July 11, 2023 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

Bidding to land his third tour triumph, MacIntyre led until running up a triple-bogey 7 at the 13th before Ramsay, who was trying to claim his fifth victory on the circuit, ran up a double-bogey 6 at the last when it would have been job done with a par.

As home player Rasmus Hojgaard ended up claiming the spoils after winning a six-hole play-off against Spaniard Nacho Elvira, it wasn't the first time in recent years that the mentality of Scottish players at the top level came under social media scrutiny.

“It annoys me,” admitted MacIntrye, speaking in a press conference for this week’s $9 million Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. “I’ve seen a couple things that annoyed me recently, but everybody's got an opinion.

“These guys are just keyboard warriors. I'm happy with myself out there. When I won in Italy last year, I felt that was a real breakthrough with such a strong field (beating Matthew Fitzpatrick in a play-off after also holding off Rory McIlroy in the final round). Last week was probably the best golf I've played in a long, long time. I had so much control of the golf ball, for 71 holes, I was in absolute cruise control.

"I'm a competitive person. If I'm playing, I want to win. It doesn't matter if it's playing tennis with my wee niece, I might give her a couple of points, but she won't beat me.”

Asked if some of the reaction to his disappointment at the weekend made him more determined to make the critics eat their words, the Oban man smiled. “It does a little bit,” he said. “But they don't change what I do and how I do it.”

Having been out on tour for longer than MacIntyre, Ramsay is well past the stage of being bothered about what anyone other than himself or coach Ian Rae has to say about his game and specific shots.

Unlike when he hit his second at the 18th in the final round of last year’s Betfred British Masters at The Belfry into the water when in with a chance of winning, Ramsay reckoned he’d been a bit unlucky on this occasion as an approach he tried to turn over didn’t move and found a penalty area.

“It hurts to lose,” admitted Ramsay. “Ever since I was a little kid, I hate losing. But it's part and parcel of the journey these days, and it makes you stronger and it makes you more determined to get a win.

“I spoke to my brother, one of my role models, this morning, and he's like, you'd have a problem if you weren't butting yourself in that position. When he said that, I took it on board realised that problem is not that I hit a bad shot at the wrong time.

"The problem would be is if I wasn't putting myself in that position, but I was there taking a shot at it. You shoot for the stars – and I'll hit one of the stars again sooner or later.”