The bizarre ruling that helped Bob MacIntyre earn the win of his career

Bob MacIntyre got the one he wanted.

Much like when he watched Rory McIlroy birdie the final hole at last year’s Genesis Scottish Open to steal the title from his grasp, MacIntyre inflicted the same sequence of heartache on Adam Scott 12 months later.

The Scot birdied the par-4 18th hole at the Renaissance Club to snatch his home tournament title but before reaching the 18th green, he benefitted from a significant twist of fate on the par-5 16th hole.

After finding the thick stuff off the tee, MacIntyre walked to his ball, cursing along the way and assuming his chance of a birdie on this hole was gone. He still felt that way until he took a practice swing and felt something under his feet against the metal spikes on his golf shoes.

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Golf sprinkler head rule helps Bob MacIntyre to huge Scottish Open win

“I got over the ball, looked at it, thinking, I’m in a bit of trouble here. Might manage to move it maybe a hundred yards,” he said after winning his third DP World Tour title.

“As I took a step back, obviously there was no high rough where it would tangle the club. So I could take the practice swing, like a foot, foot and a half from the ball, and just a step back. I just heard the clunk; I’ve got spikes on the front three of my shoes, not on my shoe as spikes, but just the front three studs as metal spikes.

“I was like, no way. I’ve got a sprinkler underneath my foot. Obviously the plastic spikes at the back, you don’t feel it. And I said to Mike, “Am I standing” – “when I get up to the golf ball, am I standing on that sprinkler?”

“And he’s laughing at me going, yeah, yeah. It was just a lucky break. You use the rules to get an advantage. You stand on a sprinkler, you’re due relief. That was just the one kiss I needed.”

The 27-year-old from Oban, who made his Ryder Cup debut for Europe last year, was able to get a 6-iron to the ball after being allowed to take a free drop away from the sprinkler, hit a superb approach and make an unlikely eagle which took him level with Scott who reached the clubhouse on 17-under.

Playing with Ludvig Aberg in the final round who held the 54-hole lead, MacIntyre found the heart of the 72nd green in two shots and his putt appeared to take an age to drop on its way for birdie. He fist-pumped the little white sphere into the cup and celebrated like you’d think he would, with the green surrounded by Scottish fans and a full clubhouse too.

“How I come down from this, I don’t think I will,” he added. “I think I will just try and ride the wave, and next week, yeah, it’s The Open Championship. That means, again, a lot to me.

“But you’ve got to celebrate the good times because it doesn’t happen a lot and this is one I said I wanted. This, I’m going to celebrate hard and I’ll pitch up when I tee the ball on Thursday, whatever time I tee off, I’ll try to win the championship. There might be some alcohol still in the system but I will try my best.”

He now has the smaller matter of The Open Championship at Royal Troon to look forward to, where he’ll be fancied to hoist the Claret Jug.

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