Robert MacIntyre returns to competition after a four-week absence finding himself just one place from qualifying for the Masters but that is not what the young Scot has in focus.

MacIntyre, 24, has moved-up four places since a mid-field finish mid last month at the DP World Tour championship in Dubai and now in his first event of 2021, the young Scot is No. 51 on the World Rankings.

However, the Oban lefty has not strayed from his opinion since first coming into frame to qualify for a Masters invitation as he remarked ahead of teeing-up in this week’s $8m Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Robert MacIntyre returns to Abu Dhabi a year on after having to withdraw simply lookingn to ‘push on’ and in doing so an invitation to the Masters will materialise on 25th March.

“I am not really worried about the Augusta stuff as it’s a byproduct of good golf,” he said.

“We’ll just keep pushing on and if I keep improving year on year, even just by little bits, it will all take care of itself.  I’m just going to go out this week and play golf. If I play how I know I can play, who knows where we will end up this week.

“I’d say my mindset changed last season a little bit. I was worrying too much about trying to win a golf tournament and, if you are thinking about that, you are focusing on the wrong thing because you can’t win them all.

“If you go into everyone dying to win, you are only going to fail. I’ve changed the way I process things and the way I think.

“I’m just going to stay within myself and don’t think about winning. It’s hard to do but it’s something me and Mikey are really working on.

“So, top 50’s not where I went to end up, it’s just a stepping stone to where I want to be. If I can crack that my March 25, absolutely brilliant, I’ll be at the Masters. If not, I’m only 25 this year so there’s plenty years to be playing the Masters. But I’ve got a great chance this year and golfers are always desperate for something better. If I can keep playing the golf I’m doing, I don’t see why not”.

MacIntyre’s return to Abu Dhabi is vastly different from a year ago when he was forced to withdraw with a nagging ‘unidentified’ source of pain at the very bottom left corner of his right hand, and an injury he first picked-up late last year.

After the clear joy of being crowned 2019 European Tour ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the nearby Jumierah Estates course, he arrived back to the UAE not having hit a club for some six weeks and when he did, immediately MacIntyre began to feel pain.

He visited the Tour’s doctor who advised he should head off to neighbouring Dubai for an MRI, and this was after first having an MRI on his wrist at the 2019 BMW PGA Championship.

The MRI disclosed nothing untoward but MacIntyre was feeling so much discomfort he ruled himself out of the 2020 Abu Dhabi event.

However, he’s now returned to the UAE capital injury-free, recharged and now a European Tour winner following his success late last year in Cyprus.

“I was obviously disappointed not to play in the event last year, but your health is more important than golf,” he said.

“I started to click at the end of last year, but I am not really worried about the Augusta stuff. It’s a byproduct of good golf and if I keep improving year on year, even just by little bits, it will all take care of itself.

“I’m just going to go out this week and play golf. If I play how I know I can play, who knows where we will end up this week.”

“So, I am really excited to be back here in Abu Dhabi and I played nine holes today, and the course is as good as I remember it.  I enjoyed it two years ago, so looking forward to it.

“I’ve spent about a week, six days actually, over here and I am just trying to get the rust off the game.  I am still going to have competitive rust in getting back into it.  No, the game is starting to look better with some little tweaks here and there and I am just going to go out there and enjoy myself this week and see where we end up.”

And in the short time all European players have had off since the mid-December finish to the 2020 Race to Dubai, MacIntyre was asked if he had time to purchase any new items for his new bachelor apartment in his beloved Oban.

“I sent a lot of it to the taxman but other than that I have not treated myself,” he said smiling.

“I am trying to make that apartment more mine and change a few things in it but other than that I will treat the family with everything again opens up and we can go on a holiday or something as a family.

“So, other than that my life is pretty good as it is with a new apartment and again, as long as the family is well, money is irrelevant to us.”

And one last question, Robert?   Anything new in the bag for your first event of a new season.

“I have a new 5-wood and a new TaylorMade driver along with changing my wedges which I do every couple of weeks,” he said.