Shane Lowry urges Bob MacIntyre to stay 'patient' on PGA Tour after own experience

Irishman sees similarities between Scot’s start on US circuit to his own one a decade ago

Bob MacIntyre and Shane Lowry celebrate Europe's victory in last year's Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome. Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images.

Shane Lowry has urged Ryder Cup team-mate Bob MacIntyre to stay “patient” after seeing similarities in the Scot’s start to life as a PGA Tour card holder as his own one a decade ago.

MacIntyre heads into this week’s Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa in Florida looking to get back on track after a disappointing missed cut in The Players Championship last week.

In his first season as a PGA Tour card holder, the 27-year-old Oban man recorded a top-ten finish in last month’s Mexico Open but, other than that, he’s not made the impact he wanted so far as he bids to get back into the world’s top 50 in time to secure a spot in next month’s Masters.

“I see him all the time and I saw him and Shannon (MacIntyre’s girlfriend) at Sawgrass,” said Lowry in reply to being asked if he’d chatted to MacIntyre, the pair having become quite close even before helping Europe regain the Ryder Cup in Rome last September.

“Look, Bob’s probably not played the golf he wanted, but it’s not easy over here. I found that when I came over in my first couple of years, but you’ve just got to stick with it and work your socks off.”

Lowry was still relatively unknown to an American audience before winning the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in 2015, when he beat Bubba Watson by two shots, and, of course, became a major winner in The Open at Royal Portrush four years later. In between, though, he took time to find his feet on the US circuit.

“Bob needs to be very patient with his career,” added the Irishman. “I see a lot of myself in Bob, to be honest, when I was his age and at the stage of his career. He needs to keep doing what he’s doing as he’s doing all the right things. He’s already played the Ryder Cup and already done a lot in the game. He just needs to maybe believe himself and will kick on from there.”

Unlike MacIntyre, Lowry has headed east rather than west from TPC Sawgrass, having made a long flight on Sunday night ahead of an appearance in this week’s Porsche Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour.

In his final competitive outing before The Masters, he’s aiming to maintain an eye-catching run of form after finishing joint-fourth in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and tied 19th in The Players Championship.

“I’m feeling good about myself, but it’s still three weeks away,” he said of the season’s opening major at Augusta National. “A lot can happen in this game in three weeks (laughing), but, yeah, I’m pretty happy. I’ve managed to pick up a lot of FedEx Cup points these last few weeks, which is kind of a bit of a relief, to be honest, because, due to the position I was in, I wasn’t in the big events and hopefully I can get back into the top 30 that gets me in all the other events - that would be nice.

“But going into The Masters I’m pretty happy where my game is at. I’m driving the ball as good as I have in a long time, the iron play is there and, though it was quite poor on Saturday, my chipping also feels good. I’ve had a few dodgy days on the greens the last few weeks, but I’ve had more good than bad, which is really nice.”