The Scottish trio of Robert MacIntyre, Martin Laird and Russell Knox will be seeking less difficult scoring conditions heading into this week’s PGA Tour flagship Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass at Tour HQ in Ponte Vedre
All three Scots came unstuck over the weekend rounds with MacIntyre eventually posting scores of 71, 71, 76 and a gutsy last day level par 72 to be just outside the top-40 finish at two-over par.
MacIntrye’s opening two rounds was pretty respectable at the Tour’s hardest venue and with the Oban lefty managing five birdies over his opening two rounds before a horror third day that begun with a triple-bogey ‘7’ from where he never recovered.
Robert MacIntyre
His closing round, and despite getting revenge with an opening hole birdie, turned into an outward nine horror show with a second hole double before MacIntyre sent his drive into the drink at the par-5 sixth hole in taking an eventual double-bogey ‘7’ and then also dropping a shot at the next.
McIntyre proudly then birdied the ninth, 10th and 12th before getting his round back to level par in two-putting from 70-feet for a birdie ‘4’ at the par-5 16th ahead of two closing pars for his score of 72.
Knox was in the Players Championship field last year when the opening round on 12th March, 2020 was later cancelled due to fast-approaching COVID-19 fears.
The Tour went into immediate lockdown and it was not to 11th June when play resumed at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
His Arnold Palmer campaign produced scores of 74, 71, 73 and a closing 79 that sent Knox to the tail of the board with a nine-over total and just two less than struggling Rickie Fowler officially last at 11-over.
Knox played his outward nine in one-over before a train wreck of an inward half.
His scorecard read: 11th hole – double-bogey, 12th and 15th holes -bogeys, 16th hole eagle where Knox brilliantly holed a 13-footer for a ‘3’, 17th hole in finding water for double-bogey and an 18th hole bogey.
Laird’s goal of celebrating the 10th anniversary of his 2011 Arnold Palmer success ended with his 999th Tour round on Saturday in dropping from second place at the start of the day but then recording three double-bogeys in a score of 76.
The Denver-based Scot’s 1,000th round was no better to be four-over for the day later in his round, and like MacIntyre also finding the water at the sixth hole.
Laird came home in a proverbial golfing ambulance playing his closing nine holes in five-over that included a pair of closing bogeys in a shock seven-over par 79.
After being eight-under par and just a shot off the lead through two rounds, Laird ended with scores of 76 and 79 for a seven-over tally and lying just outside the top-40.
