Bob MacInytre's planned US move backed by Ryder Cup team-mate - 'he has to do it'

Bob MacIntyre’s decision to base himself in the US if he secures a PGA Tour card for the 2024 season has been given the thumbs up by one of his Ryder Cup-winning team-mates in Rome.

“Bob has to do it,” Shane Lowry, who made the move himself six years ago, told The Scotsman of MacIntyre having revealed earlier in the week that he plans to swap Oban for Orlando if he secures one of ten cards for the US circuit up for grabs through this season’s Race to Dubai.

“If you go to the PGA Tour you have to give it everything. Plenty have tried to do it from Europe. I did when we had our first daughter, Iris. And it was horrible. I was jet-lagged all the time, tired all the time and not getting to practice.”

MacIntyre, who had initially expressed doubts about leaving his beloved hometown on the west coast, is now ready to make a big “sacrifice” in his bid to become Scotland’s first men’s major winner since Paul Lawrie in The Open at Carnoustie in 1999.

Bob MacIntyre and Shane Lowry celebrate after Europe's win in the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome at the end of October. Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images.

“I’m sure there are a couple of courses close to Oban where he can practice but it’s not the sort of practice you want to be doing for playing on the PGA Tour,” added Lowry, speaking during the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where she shot a five-under-par 67 in the second round. “You are putting on greens running 8-9 on the Stimpmeter. I went to the Memorial once and they are running at 14. You can’t get the hang of that quick enough to compete.

“I live there now. And the best players in the world are practicing in those conditions every day. If you want to be up there with them, you need to be working alongside them.”

Meanwhile, Lowry said he can understand close friend Rory McIlroy’s decision to resign from the PGA Tour’s Policy Board despite being the US circuit’s main voice in its initial opposition to the breakaway LIV Golf League before a framework agreement was struck in June.

“I wasn’t shocked by the news because I know him so well,” said the 2019 Open champion. “I think he’s right to do what he has done. Not that everything has gone his way the last couple of years, but I spent a lot of time with him and saw what he was having to do.

“Board meetings. Calls from other players on his weeks off. Players wanting to talk to him when he walks onto a range. I don’t understand why anyone would want to do that job, to be honest.

“I went on the PAC this year and it’s just not worth it. Rory has done a great job and we were very lucky to have him on our side. He spoke up a lot for us. I’ve often said it to him over the last couple of months, ‘Rory, why bother?’ He’s got everything he is ever going to need. All he wants is to win more majors. So that’s all he should focus on.”