'Special': Bob MacIntyre relives something that won't happen again and thing he likes about himself
Scot ‘seeing light at end of tunnel’ for first of his two title defences on PGA Tour this season
Bob MacIntyre headed back to Hamilton Golf and Country Club with his dad Dougie on Monday to relieve their “fairytale” win as a player-caddie partnership in last year’s RBC Canadian Open before turning his attention to a title defence at a different venue this week.
The 2025 edition is being played on the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, where his rivals will include two-time winner and Masters champion Rory McIlroy, but, before getting his first look at it, MacIntyre decided to make a return to the scene of his memorable moment 12 months ago.
With Dougie, the head greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club in Oban, on the bag after agreeing to make the journey across the Atlantic to fill in on a one-off basis, the left-hander landed his breakthrough triumph on the PGA Tour with a one-shot success over American Ben Griffin.
It got even better for MacIntyre, when he then added the Genesis Scottish Open a few weeks later, becoming the first home player since Colin Montgomerie in 1999 to claim that title, but, at the same time, it’s no surprise that he’s happy to be back in Canada again.
Dougie is there, too, though he’ll be watching from outside the ropes on this occasion as Mike Burrow, MacIntyre’s regular caddie, carries the bag, and, by the sounds of things, the pair loved getting the chance to relive their memories from last year.
“I went and played Hamilton yesterday with my dad with two of the members at Hamilton,” said MacIntyre in his pre-tournament press conference for the $9.8 million event, which starts on Thursday. “We had a nice day to try and kind of relive the memories and enjoy what we achieved, to be honest with you.
‘Something special that I will probably never do again’
“It was something special that I probably will never do again in my life. Obviously I had my dad on the bag. But we went there and just hung out for four or five hours and just enjoyed everyone's company.”
Asked to expand on how the day had come about, the 28-year-old added: “When we won, we sat in the clubhouse until about 11.30 just drinking beers and just having a good time but nothing wild.
“I've always kept in touch with the guys that we spent time with. I said, ‘if I can, I'd love to play Hamilton on the Monday’. They were like, ‘yeah, yeah’. Told my dad last week, ‘look, do you want to come to Canada again? You're not caddieing, but you can come and have a holiday again’.
“He was humming and hawing about leaving his work and my mum ended up saying, ‘look, you're 60 now. Get to Canada’. So he came and they actually put the pin positions out for the Sunday of the Canadian Open. So we were kind of reminiscing about certain shots, certain putts.
“Look, it's just special for me and my dad to go back there and enjoy a round of golf without the media, without the crowds, without any hassle. Just reliving a moment that I don't know if it will be done again on the PGA Tour, to be honest with you, winning with your dad on the bag. I know it happens lower down on the tours, Challenge Tour, EuroPro, potentially Korn Ferry, but, on the PGA Tour, it was something special. Yesterday was great fun.”
MacIntyre laughed when he was asked if the trip had left Dougie with an itch to get back on the bag. “No, not a chance,” he commented. “He used to be a really good sportsman, and he knows my game inside out. I think he's better watching me live than he is watching from back home in Scotland on the apps and thinking how has he missed that putt? He's better onsite being able to see what's going on.
“No, he'll just walk about, keep his head down, probably with his hat on. Yeah, just enjoy his time in Canada again. We've obviously got fond memories of being here.”
On the back of finishing sixth in the Charles Schwab Challenge in Dallas then tying for 20th behind world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in Columbus on Sunday, the Scot is heading into this week’s assignment with a spring returning to his step.
“To be honest, it's the same as every other week,” he replied to being asked about his gameplan for the first of his two title defences on the US circuit this season. “Try and build into the week, keep things simple. Look, the last two weeks have been pretty good for me. Starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
‘I feel like we’re on the right path’
“It's not been kind of easy sailing for me this year. It's been a little bit of trying to fix certain things. But now I feel like we're on the right path and the game's starting to kind of merge together.”
He gave a fascinating answer in reply to being asked about the one thing he liked about himself and not necessarily when it came to golf. “Most of the time I don't give a **** about what's going on,” he said, smiling. “I really don't care about other people's opinions, to be honest with you. If you're not part of my team, not part of the inner circle, your opinion really doesn't matter to me.
“I think that's a massive thing, especially in the sport we play. When you're trying to move forward, you're trying to dissect every part of the game to try and get better. I think, if you take too many opinions in that really aren't trying to help you, then, yeah, it doesn't help at all. I think something I like is I don't really care about what others think outside of my team and my friends or my family.
‘I’ve always been different in the way that I think’
“It's kind of something I've always had. Look, I've always been different. I grew up in a small town on the west coast of Scotland. I was given a lot of stuff to try and achieve my dreams, but I wasn't given everything, and I just worked hard for it and I trusted what I do, and I still do that.
“When I'm changing people on my team, when I'm changing schedule on the fly during the year. I wasn't going to play Dallas until Thursday of the PGA. I just thought, you know what, my game's in a good spot. I feel like I'm building. I need to keep playing to build confidence, to build momentum. I go there, play well.
“It's just little things like that. I don't make decisions easily. I really think them through, and even if I swing that back to the golf side of it, if one of my coaches is telling me to do something, I don't just do it. The first question is ‘why am I doing this?’ And then we go from there. I still live life normally, but I've always been different in the way that I think and the way that I do things from amateur golf even up to where I am now.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.