GULLANE, Scotland — If Gene Sarazen hit ‘the shot heard round the world’ back in ye day, then Robert MacIntyre clattered the wood that rang roon the Renaissance.
The stout-hearted Scot’s thrilling 3-wood to the closing hole of the final round of the Genesis Scottish Open here in East Lothian was a corker for the ages.
It set up a birdie in a 64 which gave him the clubhouse lead on 14 under and pushed him to the brink of becoming the first home player to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.
Golf, of course, can be a cruel auld game. Heartbreak, unfortunately, arrived in the shape of Rory McIlroy who charged home with a birdie-birdie blitz to pinch the title by a single stroke.
“I thought it might be enough, but that’s what happens when you are playing against the best in the world, eh?,” said MacIntyre of the one that got away.
The Oban lefty can be rightly proud of his endeavours. He forced McIlroy, widely regarded as the best player on the planet, to dig into his vast reserves of talent and winkle out a brace of wonderful birdies to win. In those last knockings, the Scot’s brilliance was only undone by McIlroy’s own majesty.
“Look, I’m absolutely delighted with the way I played,” said a philosophical MacIntyre in the aftermath. “It’s a sore one to take just now because it is a dream as a Scotsman to win a Scottish Open. I’ll never forget this day. I was praying and hoping it was going to be the one. And it would have been one hell of a celebration.
“I’m absolutely gutted just now, but I take my hat off to Rory. What a finish. To me, he’s probably the best in the world. When he needs it, he knows how to do it and he did it here.”
Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre embrace after the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in United Kingdom. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
The approach from over 200 yards to the 18th, from a fortunate lie on a flattened down walkway, underlined MacIntyre’s bold sense of adventure as he reveled in the cut-and-thrust at the sharp end.
“I just changed club because I thought the rescue club can’t get there,” he said of the switch to the three-wood. “It was 218 yards and I thought just make par and see what happens.
“I sliced the three-wood to take some distance off it and it came out absolutely perfectly. It was probably one of the best shots I have ever hit in my life.”
Grew up dreaming of hitting shots like this. It wasn’t to be today but I gave it my all. Thanks everyone for the support….a day I’ll never forget
— Robert MacIntyre (@robert1lefty) July 16, 2023
After claiming his second DP World Tour title in Italy last year, MacIntyre has struggled to scale those heights in the current campaign. Having flirted with victory in Denmark last week, however, he has renewed vigour and has rejuvenated his Ryder Cup qualification push.
“I was struggling for a wee bit there,” he said of his toils and troubles which led to him slithering out of the world’s top-100. “I didn’t have the love for the game, I didn’t have the buzz, I was never in contention, I was pottering about in the middle of the table. But the last wee while I have been in contention and I have got the buzz back. Today is the reason I play golf. Personally, I feel as though I can play against the best in the world and I feel like when my game is on, it’s up there with them.”
MacIntyre was carried home on a wave of support from the sidelines. Goodness know what the racket was like in the Glencruitten clubhouse as he moved to the front. The tears in his eyes as he went to sign for his card underlined the magnitude of the moment.
“I have never had support like that in my life,” he said. “Having the support of family and friends is massive. But it felt like everyone out there was willing me to do it.”
After this rip-roaring showing, MacIntyre has every reason to be optimistic heading into this week’s Open. “There will be expectation from everyone,” said MacIntyre, who was tied sixth in 2019 and tied eighth in 2021. “I’ll go and give it a run again and see how I get on.”
Roll on Hoylake.