Ryder Cup 2023: Bob MacIntyre earns 'stripe' with first win but now aims to climb his 'Everest'

He’s happy to have earned his “stripe” but Bob MacIntyre has still to scale his “Everest” in the Ryder Cup. The Oban man was delighted to earn his first win in golf’s biggest and best event alongside Justin Rose in the second-day fourballs at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome to help Europe hold a 10.5-5.5 lead heading into the last-day singles. But he’s not done yet on his debut in the transatlantic tussle.

Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre of Team Europe celebrate after the Scot holed a key birdie putt on the 13th green during the Saturday afternoon fourball matches in the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

“Getting on the team was just the first part,” declared MacIntyre, speaking to a small group of Scottish golf writers after enjoying a well-earned slice of pizza following an important 3&2 win for Luke Donald’s side in the penultimate session as the Americans tried to repair some of the damage caused in the opening three phases of the 44th edition on the outskirts of the Eternal City.

“The main thing is to win the Ryder Cup,” added the 27-year-old, who is the first Scot to play in the biennial event since Stephen Gallacher’s appearance on home soil at Gleneagles in 2014. “Getting on the team is one thing, but you’ve got to win it. That’s not your Everest; your Everest is winning the Ryder Cup and we’ve got a great chance tomorrow. We’ve just got to keep what we’ve been doing.”

Though he’d opened his account with a half in Friday’s fourballs, it had been Rose who’d mainly been responsible for that. “Yesterday felt like I let Justin down a little bit,” admitted the left-hander, but that certainly wasn’t the case in his second outing on the course where he won the DS Automobiles Open last September to start a journey as all roads led to the Italian capital.

For the second day running, MacIntyre overcame any nerves he may have been feeling - Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth were the opponents on his occasion - to hit a cracking opening tee shot and, also in an action replay from the previous day, he birdied it for a half only for the putter to then turn cold again.

He hit the flag with his approach at the sixth but didn’t need to attempt his birdie putt as Rose, making his sixth Ryder Cup appearance, rolled his one in first and sent the place wild even before MacIntyre urged the fans to turn up the volume as he made his way off the green. It was a sore one when a good tee shot from MacIntyre went unrewarded - a six-footer wasn’t converted - while a poor one from Thomas got a lucky bounce that led to him being left with a three-footer and in it went as the Americans got their noses in front.

Back-to-back birdies from Rose turned the tide, though, and, while his frustration was growing again as a good chance went begging at the par-5 12th, MacIntyre then stepped up to the plate in style. A brilliant tee shot at the short 12th left him with a testing five-footer and, boy, did he enjoy seeing it go in. “The celebration on 13 was more of a relief that one of them went in,” he said of his first chance to produce a fist pump and, unsurprisingly, it was a big one.

After Rose then won the next hole with a par, the Scot also enjoyed another key contribution as he got up and down from a plugged lie in a greenside bunker to retain a three-hole lead before delighting the huge crowd gathered around the 16th hole by hitting his tee shot onto the fringe before Rose closed it out by knocking in his birdie putt.

“Justin said to me when we were walking off the tenth green ‘these next 20-30 minutes are massive’ and, when I had that putt on 13 to win the hole, I said to myself ‘this has to go in as this could finish it’. It was big in terms of momentum and I was like ‘you’ve finally got one’,” admitted MacIntyre. “Thirteen and 15 are why I play golf - nothing is going to come close to that.”

Asked if it had been important to deliver a point in Europe’s bid to win back the trophy after a 19-9 mauling at Whistling Straits two years ago, he added: “100 per cent. I was sitting there this morning and I didn’t know if I was going to play. I was told I was two hours before the tee time and I was like ‘right, here’s your chance now’, though obviously we still had the singles to come.

“I am driving it as good as I have for a long time and my iron play is solid. With my putting yesterday, I just didn’t trust what I was doing. I was on the putting green last night and worked on a few things and, when I came out today, I didn’t feel I’d earned it yet. I hadn’t earned my stripe and today I was feeling I was getting close as I hit good putts.

He may be 16 years older than him, but Rose was the perfect partner. “It’s meant everything,” he said of having the 2013 US Open champion at his side. “They’ve kind of put us together for the last three weeks. The stats must have backed up the plan to play us together and obviously his experience and my experience, Luke was like ‘right, this is what we are going to do’. Justin guided me unbelievably but, at the end of the day, you have to trust yourself as well. He just allowed me to focus on what I was doing and he’s been top drawer.”

As has as a home support containing a large Caledonian contingent, as evidenced when MacIntyre made his way up the tenth hole to a rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’ from outside the ropes. “The support has been incredible,” he admitted, smiling. “For me, it was massive to get a point on the board, but the team has been unbelievable so far. It’s not done yet. We’ve got to go out tomorrow and win this cup.”

It was a good day all round for MacIntyre as his beloved Oban Celtic, the shinty team managed by his dad Dougie, staved off relegation on the last day of the season. “My dad told me on the seventh tee, I think it was,” he reported of that piece of welcome news. “Justin had made a nice putt and my dad told me that Kilmallie had beat Strathglass 6-1 and I later found out that we drew 2-2. That’s a smashing effort, so we will be playing shinty next year (laughing).”