'Use fire in belly the right way' - Luke Donald's Ryder Cup message to Bob MacIntyre
Ryder Cup captain reacts to Scot gesturing to American fan during PGA Tour event
Luke Donald, the European captain, is aiming to get Bob MacIntyre using the fire in his belly in the “right way” in next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York.
During last week’s BMW Championship, one of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Play-Off events, MacIntyre gestured to someone in the crowd after getting stick as he played in the same group as American Scottie Scheffler.
After holing a putt at the 14th in the third round at Caves Valley in Maryland, the Oban man put a finger to his lips to silence the heckler before pointing in the direction of the culprit with his putter.
“If you give me crap, I'll give you crap back,” said MacIntyre when asked about the incident at the end of the round. “If they do it outside the shot, it's fair game, but don't do it within the shot that's going to affect myself or Scottie.”
On the back of his runner-up finish in the $20 million event, MacIntyre secured one of the automatic spots in the European team that will be defending the Ryder Cup on Long Island on 26-28 September.
Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry, Donald was asked about MacIntyre interacting with the fan last weekend.
“I'm going to have obviously all those conversations once the team is set, and I've had conversations with certain players already to just kind of mentally get ready for that cauldron, that atmosphere,” said the Englishman.
“That's something I've been thinking about since day one of the captaincy. That is going to be a major feat how we react to the crowds, and certainly less is more.”
It was suggested to Donald that MacIntyre having “fire in his belly” could only be a positive thing as the Europeans bid to land a first win on US soil in the biennial event since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012. “Just using it the right way,” he said, smiling, in reply to that.
MacIntyre was unbeaten in three games on his debut in Rome two years ago, teaming up with Justin Rose to pick up one-and-a-half points from two fourball matches before beating Wyndham Clark, the US Open champion at the time, in the last-day singles.
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Donald of how MacIntyre being retained for the second-day fourballs after being carried by Rose on the first day had probably helped him grow in stature as a player over the past two years.
“I think sometimes you see players that play in the Ryder Cup and they are not really ready and it probably has a negative effect on them. I think Bob took a little time to get into it Friday and Saturday.
‘He was one of weakest statistically in Rome but is now one of strongest’
“But it helped him adjust and he really grew in confidence with that relationship and held his own on Sunday. For a rookie to get two-and-a-half points was pretty stout.
“I think it just gave him the confidence to know that even though he maybe didn't quite have his best that week he can still compete, and he's gone on to win the Canadian Open and Scottish Open. He's a top, top player.
“You look at his stats, out of the 12 guys, statistically in Rome he was one of the weakest, and now he is one of the strongest. He has improved by leaps and bounds.
“You can see it in his game and you can see it in the belief he has in himself. It's just really nice to see the Ryder Cup potentially have that effect, getting him to kick on and take his game to the next level.”
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