Who is Robert MacIntyre? Meet the first Ryder Cup Scot since 2014
He qualified automatically for his debut in the European Ryder Cup team but who is Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre?
As a winner at the Ryder Cup venue and a runner-up finish on home soil over the last twelve months, the Scot is aiming to bring that good form into this event.
He finished in 3rd in the European Points List to automatically qualify for Luke Donald‘s Ryder Cup team.
Perhaps surprisingly, he became the first Scotsman to appear in a Ryder Cup since 2014, but who is Robert MacIntyre?
How MacIntyre ended the Ryder Cup’s nine-year Scottish drought
The Scot showed his class throughout his amateur career, winning the Scottish Amateur Championship and finishing runner-up at the Amateur Championship.
He is now the leading Scotsman in the game of golf, with the left-hander being a multiple winner on the DP World Tour.
MacIntyre won his second professional tournament, and then graduated through the European Challenge Tour, and then on to the DP World Tour.
His first win on Europe’s premier golfing tour came at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown. The unique format of the tournament meant that only 19 players featured on the Sunday, with a 64 being enough for him to win by a single shot.
His biggest win to date came in 2022, when he lifted the DS Automobiles Italian Open trophy at Marco Simone, the host venue for this year’s Ryder Cup.
Following that win, the Scot had eight top-ten finishes across both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, including a runner-up finish on home soil at the Genesis Scottish Open.
In 2023, MacIntyre featured at the Ryder Cup at the same venue of his Italian Open victory. It was his first time playing for Team Europe in the competition, and he became the first Scot to play in the biennial team event since Stephen Gallacher played at Gleneagles nine years prior.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Robert MacIntyre
When and where was Robert MacIntyre born?
Robert MacIntyre was born on August 3, 1996 in Oban, Scotland. He played golf from a young age, thanks to his father working as a greenkeeper at nearby Glencruitten Golf Club. MacIntyre started to pursue a career in the sport at 16.
When did Robert MacIntyre turn professional?
MacIntyre turned professional in 2017, and started out on the MENA Golf Tour. He finished in a tie for 3rd place in his first outing, before winning his second event as a professional, taking victory at the Sahara Kuwait Championship.
How many DP World Tour titles has Robert MacIntyre won?
As of September 2023, MacIntyre has won twice on the DP World Tour. His maiden DPWT win came at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown in 2020. The tournament featured a unique scoring system in which scores were wiped ahead of the final round. A Sunday 64 saw him take the title. Two years later, the Scot was victorious at the DS Automobiles Italian Open at Marco Simone.
Did you Know?
Golfing Roots
MacIntyre’s father is a greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club in Oban, Scotland. MacIntyre learnt his golf there, and admits that he would not want to move from the town.
“I live on the golf course with my parents, they’re still there. It’s so relaxed, it’s actually too relaxed, but I wouldn’t move from there. It’s too comfortable in Oban, it’s just the lifestyle. It’s a great place to be brought up and live. For now, my heart’s set in Oban”
Shinty Swings
During his teenage years, MacIntyre played for Oman Camanachd, and attributes playing shinty as a key help for his golf swing: “The hand-eye coordination in my golf has come from my shinty. I’ve been hitting a shinty ball since I could walk. It was just instinctive and the majority of my golf game is like that. Tee to green you’ve got to hit it good, and shinty encourages the motion of a golf swing.”
Course Record On First Professional Outing
In his first professional tournament, the Jordan’s Ayla Golf Championship on the MENA Tour, MacIntyre shot a course record in the third round, showing off the qualities he had from the beginning of his career.
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Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
