Robert MacIntyre chasing a return to Augusta National
Robert MacIntyre faces the media today – image Australian Golf Media
Having never had the opportunity to hear Scotland’s Robert Macintyre speak, other than in television interviews, I was looking forward to today’s media conference at the Australian PGA Championship and I wasn’t let down by the 27-year-old’s beautifully understated manner.
The two-time winner and three-time runner-up on the DP World Tour and one of the stars in Europe’s year’s defeat of the Americans at the Ryder Cup in Rome has been a regular to Australia throughout his amateur and professional career, family in Melbourne making the trip just that much more special.
Currently 56th in the world ranking, one of the motivations for his appearance in this event and next week’s Australian Open, both jointly sanctioned between the PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour, is to elevate himself inside the top 50 by year’s end, guaranteeing himself another trip to the Masters where, as a left-hander, he has a great chance of building on his already impressive record at Augusta National.
“Yes, I get to see family and I’m chasing top 50 in the world,” said Macintyre when asked the motivation for coming to Australia so late in the year.
“If I can achieve that in the next two weeks I get in The Masters come April, so, I’ve got a lot to play for. There’s a lot on the line and I also get to see some family within that. For me, the biggest thing is getting to Augusta come April.
“I mean, I had a great opportunity in Qatar four weeks ago, I had a great opportunity in Dubai last week and I didn’t finish the way I wanted to. My wedge play has been, to be honest with you, abysmal.
“Last week on Sunday I dropped four shots inside 140 yards, on the Sunday. There are four shots, there’s eight World Ranking points that would have taken me up to say 52nd in the world. It’s such fine margins.
On the possibility of finishing inside the top 50 by year’s end and stamping his ticket to the Masters?
“I think if I win this week it’ll be very close. I’m not sure, I’ve not seen what the world ranking points are going to be, but I’m sure it’s – I mean, it should be more than 10. It should be, I’m guessing, 14, 15 with the new structure, 14, 15 with the new structure, which isn’t much, but it would be enough to get across that line.”
Macintyre now has a PGA Tour card courtesy of finishing inside the top 10 of the DP World Tour money list not otherwise exempt for the PGA Tour.
His schedule is going to change significantly but he is already looking ahead to just that.
“Yeah, so I’ve actually just signed my first rental property in the US. When I started playing golf, started playing professional golf, I never – I knew I was decent, I knew I was at a certain level. I’ve dreamed of playing certain events, winning certain events. Did I believe it was going to happen – no. To be honest, I didn’t. It was just a dream; you dream as a kid.
“Things have started to happen and it’s been incredible but it’s moving fast. I’m 27 year old, I’m not that young anymore but it is moving fast. I like home comforts. I’ve got my whole family, friends, I’m from my hometown. I’ve not really got anyone outside of that and me and my girlfriend will move to Orlando in January and try and work things out and kind of wing it as much.”
The PGA Tour’s gain is definitely the DP World Tour’s loss, his first DP World Tour event not likely to be until the Scottish Open in July depending on how things go in the US.
“Potentially Scottish Open is probably (my first) – it’s so hard. Only the best, best players in the world can juggle two tours and with everything going on in the PGA Tour and things, I think when you’re first starting out, you’ve got to go all in.
“Obviously, the European Tour is giving you that safety net. It’s almost an invitation to go all in in the PGA Tour. You obviously have to play your minimums to be eligible in case you don’t have a good year on the PGA Tour, that you can get your fallback.”
On the issues faced by left-handers and whether some courses suit better than others MacIntyre responded; “There’s one of these when I go back to Augusta, because I feel like the odds are stacked with you more than against you. The majority of golf courses I feel are designed by ex-right-handed golfers, so the way they shape the greens are almost the opposite of Augusta.
“I’ve played it (Augusta National) twice now and finished something like 12th and 25th and I see it in my eyes. It’s a dream that’s – one of my life goals was to play the Ryder Cup and win the Ryder Cup. I achieved that.
“I’ve got another few goals, but one of them is to win a green jacket and I think I can do it. People around me think I can do it. The hardest part is getting there. Once you get there, you’ve got every chance of doing it. Yeah, it would be a lifelong dream.”
First things first however, and having produced such a good season in Europe and with such an incentive of Augusta and that he has made his way to the PGA Tour, then the performance of MacIntyre at Royal Queensland this week will be watched with interest by a large group of golf fans and not just Scots.
