NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — The 16th green at the Renaissance Club sits low down a sloping fairway near the Firth of Forth, too low to be seen by the golfers who spent five minutes standing on the Scottish dune grass. Minutes before batting. They know nothing about metal spikes or hidden sprinklers. For their part, Robert McIntyre nearly bowed out of the Scottish Open, two strokes behind Adam Scott with three holes remaining. The Scot’s dream of winning the National Open would have to wait another year. But here they were, still standing around the green, waiting patiently, with courtesy and hope.
So when a ball emerges from the dark, cloudy sky and bounces uphill on the par-5 green, chaos ensues.
“Is that Bob?” one fan asked.
“Bob?” another man shouted.
Scot Ross Gray was the first volunteer to spot a tee shot on the dune grass. That ball had no chance. Then he walked to the green for his next shot. When he saw the ball bounce and slowly roll upward until it was less than 6 feet away from the flagpole, even Gray said: “This must be his fourth ball, fool?” But gradually, half a circle Fans realized it was McIntyre until a disproportionate roar erupted from Scotland’s east coast.
“Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” They chanted and walked down the hill with one hand in the air when McIntyre finally showed up.
In this way, Bob from Auburn made an eagle on the 16th hole to tie the lead. From that moment on, there was only one way to end it all. Bob McIntyre has to win his National Open. Thirty minutes later, he was screaming so hard that he almost lost his voice.
“I was raised to fight for everything,” McIntyre said, “and I just fought for it.”
Dougie McIntyre didn’t drive up from Auburn until late Friday night. “My dad was a negative man,” McIntyre joked, so much so that the greenmaster at Glencrutten Golf Club wouldn’t commit to the drive from Scotland’s west coast until he was sure his son would make the cut. It wasn’t until around the 15th hole of the second round that Dougie, who caddied for his son during last month’s Canadian Open win, felt comfortable.
Dougie was a proud but shy man, a skilled and accomplished golfer, but he never had the opportunity to further pursue these dreams. He and his wife, Carol, have raised a family near the 12th tee at Glencruiten, looking up at the hills and fairways very similar to the eagle McIntyre just made on Sunday. They have four children. There are many more foster children, including a boy they have been caring for for the past six or seven years. Dougie passed on the game he loved to his children.
Great Scotsman! 🏴Chase, pursue, pursue
@robert1lefty win @ScottishOpen The roar was heard throughout Scotland! pic.twitter.com/Fe20zt6lcv— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2024
Maybe, just maybe, they were better able to chase those dreams than he was. Bob was a special talent, as members knew, who transcended adulthood and played his first ace at the age of 12. Traveling across the UK like that for countless junior tournaments.
Sometimes club members and mentors provide financial help. McIntyre’s sisters were both skilled equestrians and had a horse at home for them to compete on. They had to sell the horse, Molly, to get enough money to send Bob to the few races he could enter.
He was never that sexy young prospect. He didn’t get the hype from amateur wins or college accomplishments. He slowly rose up the rankings, and even when he automatically qualified for the 2023 Ryder Cup, he was met with skepticism.
“Your face doesn’t fit perfectly because you’re not a centrocentric person,” McIntyre said. “I just have to transplant it. The most important thing to me is to never give up. A lot of people might say, ‘He He doesn’t have this, he doesn’t have that,’ but I have the fight and that’s what I need.
But McIntyre was there, standing on the 18th tee, with a chance to win the Scottish Open. Unlike the previous year, when McIntyre birdied the final hole but Rory McIlroy wrested the ball from him after a set – the fighting Scot dominated him fate. He was three shots behind going into the 14th hole and appeared to be out of trouble. But he made a 41-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole. The score is tied.
McIntyre isn’t the most impressive guy to look at. He has a friendly, pale face that welcomes you, but he doesn’t look like an elite athlete. He was in the final group that day with 24-year-old rising star Ludwig Aberg and watched as the 6-foot-3 Swede gave up a two-shot lead on the back nine and quickly fell out of contention. Handsome Australian veteran Adam Scott, another player at 17 under, waited in the scorers tent after missing a 14-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Gentile’s goal.
McIntyre once again found himself just off the fairway and into some light rough. All he needed was a wedge. He hooked a high left-to-right hook that landed in the center of the green, leaving the Scot with a 14-foot putt for double break. He also felt strangely comfortable standing on it.
Grown men hugged and cried as it went in. His whole family hugged. Soon, the stands were singing “Flower of Scotland” in unison.
McIntyre dropped the bat, yelled with all his body, thrust his hips and pumped his fists. He walked over to his caddy, let Oberg finish the putt, then put his hands on his forehead and looked up at the sky in disbelief. He crouched down and held back tears.
McIntyre became the first Scottish golfer in 25 years to win the National Open Championship.
“That’s what I want,” he said.
As Oban locals like to say, this will be Glencruitten’s “premium west coast cèilidh”.
“Recovery will probably take a long few days and we expect Bob to be able to hold the trophy tomorrow,” member John Tannehill said Sunday night.
A reporter then mentioned to McIntyre that he planned to hold a press conference at Royal Troon on Monday at 3pm for the Open, also in Scotland. He paused and said cautiously:
“I think the schedule may change. I don’t think I’m healthy enough to travel to Troon. I don’t think I can legally drive.
Robert Macintyre is the first Scot to win the National Open title in 25 years. (Luke Walker/Getty Images)
Auburn took Bob in and helped him to greatness. In turn, he thrust the town into the spotlight. Reporters often traveled great distances to tell Bob’s story. Glencruitten saw a lot of business with people wanting to come and play at McIntyre’s home ground. Signs like this were hung all over town: “Bob McIntyre Home.”
So when he moved to Florida this year to play on the PGA Tour and prepare year-round like most great golfers end up doing, he wasn’t happy. This summer he has spoken frequently about losing his “mojo” and how different life on the PGA Tour is from life on the European Golf Tour.
McIntyre didn’t reveal until Wednesday that he wouldn’t be raising rents again in Orlando. It’s not worth it. He will move back to Scotland and will then return to the United States.
So in the week he officially recommitted to his hometown and his inner truth, McIntyre won the National Open against a field that included many of the world’s top players. He left his hometown and became a great man. He comes back to prove that he already is.
It all happened five days ago when two Scottish men climbed the steep 12th fairway at Glencruiten, stepped onto the green and turned to point towards the home where McIntyre grew up. Fly to Rome and watch him on the pitch.
One of the men, Declan Curran, joked that McIntyre was playing down the pressure but they hoped he could achieve a double, winning the Scottish and Open titles in consecutive weeks in his home country . They laughed, but they believed it.
McIntyre is already halfway there, but he’ll always be satisfied with that.
(Top photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
