Bob MacIntyre isn’t scared to dream of grabbing Open glory and busting another 25-year Scottish hoodoo.
The Oban ace goes into Royal Troon on the crest of a wave after winning his national title at The Renaissance last weekend. MacIntyre became the first home winner of the event since Colin Montgomerie in 1999. Now he heads into the 152nd Championship with a chance to be the first Scots winner of the Claret Jug since Paul Lawrie at Carnoustie in the same year.
MacIntyre refuses to burden himself with expectations, but isn’t backing away from ending another quarter-century Tartan jinx. He said: “It’s possible. Same Thursday last week, I had the same chance as everyone else. It’s just about getting in that position on Sunday and seeing where the cards fall. Obviously last week, they fell my way. My job is to go out there, fight as hard as I can, try my best, and hopefully get in a position where I can just have a chance. That’s all I can ask myself. If I do my job well enough and I hit the shots I see, execute them as well as I can, accept where they end up, then there’s a chance.
“To be honest, I can’t put a finger on why I do reasonably well when there’s a lot of expectation or there’s a lot of noise or it’s a big event. It’s just I’ve been brought up to fight for everything when everything’s on the line. In the most stressful situations on a golf course, there’s no-one else that can hit the ball for you. It’s you.
“You’ve just got to stand up, take the shot on. I love playing team sports, but that’s one of the benefits of playing an individual sport. It’s on you. And I don’t mind that.”
Scots kids will be inspired by MacIntyre’s exploits at Troon and he said: “Don’t be scared to dream. A lot of kids out there will be
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