Bob MacIntyre on dream double date, his swipe at 'daftys', LIV Golf and Oban

It’s a dreich day in Oban but people are going about their daily routines. “I’m just watching a woman going in for a swim as we speak and she must be off her head,” said Bob MacIntyre, chuckling, as he looked out the window from his flat close to a beautiful sandy beach at the east end of his beloved home town.

Facing square on to the 18-mile Sound of Mull that separates the island of Mull from mainland Scotland, the bachelor pad is where the 25-year-old has found solace in recent weeks after hitting the first bumps on the road in his professional career, though sitting out a first major since making his debut on the game’s showpiece stages and missing a couple of cuts on the DP World Tour has hardly constituted a crisis.

“It’s just not happening for me just now, but hopefully I can find a spark in these two events,” said MacIntyre, referring to an exciting double date on home soil - next week’s Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian followed by the 150th Open at St Andrews the week after.

It will be the left-hander’s third appearance in the latter, having tied for sixth on his debut at Royal Portrush in 2019 before finishing in the top 10 once more at Royal St George’s 12 months ago. That effort on the Kent coast meant his place in this year’s milestone edition had been locked up long before most other players around the world started exploring every route possible on the road leading to the Home of Golf.

“It’s been unbelievable,” he admitted of his early endeavours in the game’s oldest major. “To even think I am going to be playing in an Open at St Andrews is amazing. As a kid you dream of playing in The Open, but to have a chance to compete in it at St Andrews as a Scot, I mean there’s not a