NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — The 16th green at Renaissance Club is set far below the sloping fairway just beyond the Firth of Forth, low enough that no one standing around could see the golfer standing in the Scottish dune grass, taking five minutes to hit the ball. They knew nothing of metal spikes or hidden sprinklers. Ahead of them, Robert Macintyre was nearly eliminated from the Scottish Open, two shots behind Adam Scott with three holes to go. The dream of a Scot winning his national Open would have to wait another year. Yet here they were, standing around the green, waiting patiently, clinging to a combination of courtesy and hope.
When a ball appeared out of the dark, overcast sky and bounced in front of the par-5 green, confusion ensued.
“Is that Bob?” asked one fan.
“Bob?” shouted another.
Scot Ross Gray was the volunteer who initially found the tee shot in the dune grass. That ball didn’t stand a chance. He then walked to the green to prepare for the next shot. As he watched the ball bounce and slowly roll up, up, up to within 6 feet of the pin, even Gray said, “That must be his fourth, dunnit?” But one by one, the realization spread like a wave through the semicircle of fans that it was Macintyre until an out-of-proportion roar erupted along the east coast of Scotland.
“Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” they chanted as Macintyre finally appeared, walking down the hill with one hand in the air.
Just like that, Bob from Oban eagled the 16th hole to tie the lead. From that point on, there was only one way to go. Bob Macintyre had to win his National Open. Thirty minutes later, he was screaming so loudly he nearly lost his voice.
“I was raised to fight for everything,” Macintyre said, “and I just fought for it.”
Dougie Macintyre didn’t drive down from Oban until late Friday night. “My dad’s a negative guy,” Macintyre joked — so much so that the head greenkeeper at Glencruitten Golf Club won’t commit to the drive from the west coast of Scotland until he’s sure his son can make the cut. It wasn’t until the 15th hole of the second round that Dougie, who caddied for his son during his Canadian Open win last month, felt comfortable.
Dougie is a proud but shy man, a skilled shinty player and golfer in his own right who never had the chance to pursue those dreams. He and his wife, Carol, raised a family right by Glencruitten’s 12th tee, looking out over hills and fairways so similar to the one Macintyre eagled on Sunday. They had four children of their own. And many more foster children, including a boy they’ve watched for the past six or seven years. And Dougie passed on the games he loves to his children.
AWESOME SCOT!!! 🏴
@Robert1Lefty wins the @ScottishOpen with a roar that was heard throughout Scotland! photo.twitter.com/Fe20zt6lcv— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2024
Maybe, just maybe, they could pursue those dreams more than he did. Bob was a special talent, the kind the members knew was different when he surpassed adults and hit his first ace at the age of 12. But Dougie and Carol couldn’t afford to send Bob all over Britain to play countless junior tournaments like most of his peers.
Sometimes club members and mentors helped financially. Macintyre’s sisters were skilled riders and the family had a horse they could compete with. They had to sell the horse, Molly, for enough money to send Bob to the few tournaments he could enter.
He was never the sexy young prospect. He didn’t have the hype of amateur wins or college exploits. He climbed the rankings slowly and even when he automatically qualified for the 2023 Ryder Cup, he was met with scepticism.
“Your face doesn’t quite suit you because you’re not a center-built guy,” Macintyre said, “and I just have to work hard at it. The biggest thing for me was to never give up. A lot of people would say, ‘He doesn’t quite have this, he doesn’t quite have that,’ but I have fighting spirit, and that’s all I need.”
But there stood Macintyre, on the 18th tee with a chance to win the Scottish Open. Unlike the year before — when Macintyre birdied the final hole, only to have Rory McIlroy snatch him from his grasp a group later — the combative Scot was in control of his destiny. He went into the 14th hole three shots behind and looked to be out of this thing. But he made the 41-foot birdie putt on the 14th. He made the epic eagle out of the dune grass on the 16th hole thanks to a free light from a hidden sprinkler beneath his feet. The score was even.
Macintyre is not the most imposing of characters. He has a friendly, pale face that welcomes you, but he does not look like an elite athlete. He started the day playing in the final group with 24-year-old rising star Ludvig Åberg, and watched as the 6-foot-3 Swede squandered a two-shot lead on the back nine and quickly fell out of contention. Handsome Australian veteran Adam Scott, the other man on 17 under par, was waiting in the scorer’s tent after missing his 14-foot birdie putt on 18. It was Macintyre’s turn to take.
Once again, Macintyre found himself just off the fairway in some light rough. A pitching wedge was all he needed. He hit a high, arcing draw from left to right that landed in the middle of the green, setting up a double-breaking 14-foot putt for Scottish immortality. He also felt strangely comfortable standing above it.
And when it went in, grown men hugged each other and cried. His whole family hugged him. Soon the stands were singing in unison, “Flower of Scotland.”
Macintyre dropped his club and screamed with his whole body, thrusting his hips and clenching his fists. He walked over to his caddy to let Åberg finish his putt, then looked up at the sky in disbelief, hands on his forehead. He crouched down, trying to hold back tears.
Macintyre became the first Scottish golfer to win the National Open in 25 years.
“This is the one I wanted,” he said.
It’s going to be a “proper west coast cèilidh” in Glencruitten, as the Oban residents like to say.
“It could be a long recovery period and we expect Bob to come up with the trophy tomorrow,” member John Tannehill said Sunday night.
A reporter told Macintyre that he had a press conference at Royal Troon on Monday at 3pm for the Open Championship, also in Scotland. He paused and said cautiously:
“I think there will be a change in the schedule. I don’t think I’ll be in a fit state to go to Troon. I don’t think I’ll be able to drive legally.”
Robert Macintyre becomes the first Scot to win the national Open in 25 years. (Luke Walker/Getty Images)
Oban took Bob in and helped him rise to the top. In turn, he has put the town in the spotlight. Reporters often make the trip to tell Bob’s story. Glencruitten has received an influx of business from people wanting to play Macintyre’s home course. Signs are plastered all over town: “The Home of Bob Macintyre.”
So when he moved to Florida this year to play on the PGA Tour and prepare year-round, as most great golfers eventually do, he wasn’t happy. He spoke often this summer about losing his “mojo” and how different life on the PGA Tour was compared to the European golf circuit.
It wasn’t until Wednesday that Macintyre announced he would not be renewing his lease in Orlando. It’s not worth it. He’s moving back to Scotland and will travel back to the United States when the time comes.
So, the week he officially recommitted himself to his home and inner truth, Macintyre won the National Open against a field of many of the world’s best players. He left home to be great. He came back to prove that he already was.
All this happened just five days after two Scottish men climbed the steep 12th fairway at Glencruitten, reached the green, and turned to point at the house where Macintyre had grown up. These were the men who had flown to Rome with Macintyre to watch him play in the Ryder Cup and played a round with him on the Tuesday after he won the Canadian Open in June.
One of the men, Declan Curran, joked that Macintyre was playing down the pressure, but they wanted him to do the double, winning the Scottish and Open Championships in consecutive weeks on their home turf. They laughed, but they believed him.
Macintyre is only halfway through, but he’ll enjoy this for a long time to come.
(Top photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
