Bob MacIntyre fighting back amid Open 'carnage' as caddie pep talk helped turn battling Scot around

Battling Bob MacIntyre feared he’d shoot 90 in carnage before his miraculous Open rescue act. But there’s no weekend for ravaged Rory McIlroy and a cast of humiliated superstars tortured at Troon.

MacIntyreadmits he was angry and his head wrecked during a horrendous opening to day two. The Oban star dropped eight shots in his first Friday four holes with two triples of seven and eight through a horror start. MacIntyre confessed he’d have been “gone in my car already and up the road” if he’d suffered such a brutal beginning a year ago. But the 27-year-old somehow pulled his mind and game together to go bogey-free, four-under through his last 14 holes and save the day by making the cut.

It was a fightback as staggering as the chaotic start and a desire not to let down a huge home support motivational in his recovery. MacIntyre explained: “That was carnage. I was actually nervous going out. I said it to the whole team.

“They’re like why? Because that front nine is going to be carnage for me. After four holes, I was staring 90 in the face.

“When I made that eight on the fourth, my head was completely gone. I’m just thankful (caddie) Mike managed to keep me somewhat calm once the head was going a little bit. Once he started to talk sense to me, I started to realise: You actually haven’t played that bad and you’re shooting gazillions.

“That’s where we calmed down. I didn’t think I was going to make the weekend, but Mike said: Look, fans are here to watch. Just give them what they want, severe dig and fight and that’s what I did. I just tried my best and managed to turn it around. I’ll speak to the team about what we just done. I saw an attitude. You could see me getting angrier and angrier and angrier.

“The golf game was going