Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre is primed to step into the shoes of American golfing heartthrob Rickie Fowler and take his place in next April’s Masters.
MacIntyre jumped two places to a new career ranking high of World No. 59 on the back of last week’s top-20 result in the Golf in Dubai championship.
In contrast, Fowler will end a remarkable run of 42 straight ‘automatic’ showings in the Majors in dropping two places to World No. 51 after missing the cut by a shot in last week’s Mayakoba Championship in Mexico.
The event was the last on the PGA Tour for 2020 and it means the 32-year old Fowler will now forfeit a place in next year’s Masters by virtue of being outside the top-50 at year’s end. The Californian has been inside the top-50 on the World Rankings since finishing second in the 2010 Memorial. It was an effort that qualified Fowler a month later for the 2010 Open Championship and since his appearance at St. Andrews, Fowler has been a feature in every major championship.
It’s meant teeing-up in the last 10 Masters, the past 10 U.S. Open’s, 11 PGA Championships and 10 Open Championship’s.
Fowler’s best major’s year was undoubtedly 2014 finishing T5th at the Masters, runner-up in the U.S. Open and second to Rory McIlroy at the Royal Birkdale Open and then seeing McIlroy emerge from the darkness up the 72nd hole and be relegated to third in the 2014 PGA at Valhalla in Louisville.
Fowler, however, has paid the price for his poor form with a best finish in his 20 events this year of a share of fifth in his first event of the New Year in January.
Bumping Fowler out of the top-50 was England’s Matt Wallace who traded places with Fowler moving from 51st to 49 after finishing joint second in Dubai.
MacIntyre returns to the Jumeirah Estates Earth course for a first time since finishing 14th in last year’s DP World season-ender, and an effort that earned him the coveted Rookie of the Year title.
However, MacIntyre is going to need, at worst, a likely top-seven result in Dubai to ensure the delivery early next month of an envelope postmarked ‘Augusta, GA’.
He said: “I came here last year shooting for the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award and we achieved that.
“This year I’ve had the experience this year of playing in the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open at that’s been great. I’ve also had my first win on the European Tour.
“Now, and as I’ve been saying the last few weeks, I’m shooting for top-20 in the Race to Dubai and also top-50 in the world and hopefully, one will take care of the other.
“That’s all I’m thinking of at the moment. I am setting myself goals and just going out playing golf and seeing where we end up at the end of the week.”
MacIntyre’s immediate goal of top-20 on the Race to Dubai has been helped by five of some dozen players, and particularly US-based, who have chosen not to travel to Dubai.
A big blow to the European Tour is the withdrawal defending European No. 1 and DP World champ, Jon Rahm at No. 20 on the Race to Dubai along with Louis Oosthuizen at No. 8, Aussie Lucas Herbert at No. 10, England’s Paul Casey at No. 12 and triple European Tour No. 1 Rory McIlroy at No. 17.
That’s six players meaning MacIntyre is effectively now at No. 16.
