Loose arrangements don’t really come off when trying to set up an interview with a golfer. The first hour of the Tuesday in Abu Dhabi had been spent waiting for someone who, as it transpired, was still fast asleep in his hotel five miles down the road and my only dealings with Bob MacIntyre were one text and a chance meeting by the 18th the night before when I was waiting for someone else.
I mumbled something about 10am on the clubhouse veranda, he mumbled something back, and we both went our separate ways. Given ‘my 9 o’clock’ was still fast on I got there early and, to my relief, my new friend was already in place. He didn’t expect to be here this week, he was seventh reserve at one point, but he got a little whisper that some of those who had entered were injured and one by one they dropped out.
MacIntyre has been on the radar for a few years having won the Scottish Amateur, very nearly the Amateur Championship, on his Walker Cup debut he thumped Cameron Champ and he only took one year to get off the Challenge Tour.
Quite a CV for someone who’s still only 22, but you couldn’t meet a more down-to-earth pro let alone a European Tour rookie.
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You live in Oban, do you have any plans to move?
Home’s home so why change that? I live at home with my mum and dad and sister and we’ve got two foster boys who are 5 and 11. My mum’s always wanted to do it and they started doing it six years ago.
When the weather’s good there’s nowhere like it, sat on the seafront, even at night when the sun’s dropping behind the islands. It’s not as cold as the west coast but it is wet.
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Have you got your own car yet?
No, I’m still running about in my mum’s Chevrolet Spark – I can hardly get the clubs in it. I’m away now for nine weeks so there’s no rush to change that. If I have a big result then why not?
Glasgow airport is two hours away so I get dropped off.
You’re not meant to get off the Challenge Tour at your first attempt, it’s meant to be more of a slog…
I was trying to have one season of keeping my card and then try and get off it once I had got to know the courses. Once I had secured my card in Finland in August, where I lost in a play-off, I just thought why not reset the goals so I shot for the stars and reached it.
Who’s your caddie?
A young Irish guy called Greg Milne. We got together in Denmark midway through the season and you could tell that it was going to work and here we are now. Some people were telling me go for more experience but I thought if he keeps me in the same mind frame then it should work out here.
I don’t like change, if we keep everything the same we’re onto a winner.
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Talk us through the putt in Finland which very nearly won the Challenge Tour’s Shot of the Year?
I’m not one for celebrating but when you see from another angle I was going mental, not just for trying to win a big event but I needed to finish in the top two in my last three events to have any chance of getting to the final events and that putt was tied for second at worst.
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Jack Singh Brar needed an eagle to match me and he was putting for birdie so it was more for the overall picture.
You just need to get into those last three events and, if you can finish first or second in one of them, which I did, then you’ve got a good chance.
You’ve already played with Ernie Els quite a bit, what was that like?
I played with him on the Saturday in the SA Open, along with his nephew, who I had played with in some amateur events. He swings it the same.
My caddie and I had said that we’ll never fully realise we’re on the European Tour until we get drawn with one of the big names and I could hardly tee the ball up on the 1st.
You could never teach the pressure that I put on myself for the first five holes, now I feel more prepared.
Now I want to get into contention properly. In South Africa it was there at the back of my mind but I was thinking a lot of who I was playing with. The first goal is to keep my card, then it’s to get into the top 60. I also need to make a short-term one which I’ve not decided yet.
And it was Ernie again and another major winner on the Sunday?
Then I was drawn with him and Charl Schwartzel. I was watching the scores and I thought I could be drawn with Ewen Ferguson but I then got a text when I’d got back to the hotel and I couldn’t believe it. I hit a poor tee shot but I think it was the best out of the three of us!
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I think I handled it well, Ernie and I tied both days and I maybe beat Charl by one on the day.
I then played with Ernie the following week on the Sunday at Leopard Creek and pipped him so I had a couple of top-15 finishes.
So how did Bob MacIntyre take down Cameron Champ in the Walker Cup? And what does he think of the new Scottish Amateur final format? Interview continues on the next page…
How does shinty work?
The stick has a wee curve but a longer head than a hockey stick, there’s a lot of finesse at the top of the game. I was brought up with it and always follow it, you can hit it both sides and defenders have more loft on both sides.
My papa used to fix sticks when he stopped playing, my dad played at a high level and my papa made his sticks. When it would break he would bind it together. My dad’s favourite stick was from a pick shaft, ground down and put into head of shinty stick.
I would have less loft on my good hand as the chances of making a clean strike with my bad hand were slimmer.
Everyone seems to be trying out new clubs this week. What’s it like as maybe the only left-hander on tour this week?
It is limited whichever equipment company you are with but if something’s working then won’t change it. The new stuff is out but I’ve not got it yet, if I’m more controlled with something why would I change it?
Even from a young age the driver that I wanted wasn’t available. I’m still using the TaylorMade Aeroburner 3-wood that I’ve had since I was 17. They just can’t me out of it. I find 3-woods and putters really hard to find.
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When I first got the Aeroburner I couldn’t hit it and it was in my garage for two years, then I decided that I needed something less spinny and, from 280 yards if I have a go at one and hit it good then it will get there. If I mishit it it still goes, if I mishit others they just spin too much. The European Tour is premium so hopefully it will be useful for me.
How easy – or hard – have you found sponsorship to come by?
I’m not an easy one for sponsorship, I’m from a small town, which is two hours from the nearest city and I’m not in a prime location. But I signed with Bounce Sports and have done their amateur to pro scheme where the top ams get sponsorship from Aberdeen Asset, Scottish Hydro and Scottish Golf for the first two years if you’re still on the Challenge Tour.
I’ve been with TaylorMade since I was 16 so that’s a no-brainer for a club deal.
I’d also like to do more stuff locally but it’s difficult as it costs to have a spot on your shirt have to pay but I try to boost my home club, Glencruitten, as much as I can. I always like to keep stuff closer to home.
What’s Glencruitten like?
It’s a parkland, no par 5s, a par 62 and some of the par 3s are beasts. My competition lowest score is about 4-under so it’s not as if it’s a gimme. People laugh at the par of 62 but it’s very hilly.
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I played something like 29 events in 33 weeks last year, which is too much but I had to do it, and Glencruitten is somewhere without any hassle.
We’ve already heard a lot about Cameron Champ in the States, what was it like playing him in the Walker Cup?
Yeah, I gave him a good seeing to there (laughs). He was consistently 50-80 yards ahead of me and so straight, I couldn’t even think about playing the guy. So I had to play the course.
If we both played our best then I would probably lose as he was hitting shorter irons in but the chances of him playing great when I’m playing great are slimmer as I was always hitting in first and putting so much pressure on him.
What was the return match like the following day?
I felt like he was out for a bit of revenge but I’m one of them guys who, until I’m beat, I’m not down. It was some match and I was hanging in there, he started really playing well and I holed a 40-footer at 16 when he was very close. He then holed from 20 feet for par at 18 after hacking out and I was 15 feet away for a birdie.
We were beat as a team so I thought if it drops, it drops but don’t hit it six feet by. I hit it three feet by and smiled at him and I thought, ‘Come on, just give us that!’ He did. He’s a really nice guy.
What do you make of the Scottish Amateur final being played over 18 holes?
I don’t know what the plan is there. I would have lost 4&3, maybe more as I came back a bit at the end of the first round.
You want it to be a marathon and not a sprint. Even if you are up in the morning, whatever the score you are always thinking of what could happen and vice versa so 18 holes is a bit short. I think it should be 36 holes for a final.
‘I was hell bent on improving – Tiger was hitting shots your brain could not even fathom’
