Robert MacIntrye’s decision to take some weight off his putter could reap hefty dividends after muscling his way into the top-10 early on day two of the RBC Heritage Classic in South Carolina.
MacIntyre was handed a first in his now 10 events on US soil and that was teeing-off in the opening group on day two of this week’s £stg 5.1m event.
Starting out from the 10th, MacIntyre posted four opening pars before the Oban lefty made his move with three birdies in four holes from the 14th.
MacIntyre holed a 29-footer for birdie at the par-3 14th, sank a 17-footer at the 16th and then also one-putted the par-4 17th from 14-feet.
He then made it four birdies in seven holes when he was just short of the green in two at the par-5 second, or the 11th of his round, and with MacIntyre brilliantly landing an 82-yard wedge shot to just eight feet and move to four-under for his round.
MacIntyre then closed off with seven straight pars to be the early clubhouse leader and having jumped a then 36 spots to a leader-board share of 10th place.
He said: “I’m really pleased with my round as it’s one of my first bogey-free rounds in a long time and the round was as steady as it looks on the scorecard.
“I wasn’t driving it at my best but I managed to keep the ball in play but then I know the shot shapes I am playing with now and I am putting beautifully, and I have been the last three weeks as that’s been helped by changing a couple of things.”
And MacIntrye revealed keys changes to the shortest club in his bag that helped greatly as reflected in just 27 putts on each in the £stg 5.1m event
He said: I actually extended the putter as I have been struggling with the pace of the greens over here in US as they are a lot faster and the ball was coming off too hot from the putter face.
“So, the TaylorMade boys took some of the weight off the head and the only way they could do that was by extending it, and they’re done a great job as the ball is now coming off at a pace I can control.
“That’s half the battle as for me if I drive it well and putt it well, I seem to score well”.
MacIntyre admitted post his opening round he was virtually running on the smell of an oily rag after emerging superbly from the pressure-test that is the Masters.
However, the young Scot found plenty of gas to find 10 of 14 fairways and also hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
He said: “I feel 100% there’s enough gas in the tank for the weekend. What I am going to do now is go back to house with my caddy and just chill out.
“I’ve now got probably 24-hours to relax and I’m quite good at saving energy and not doing much, so Mike and I will probably watch a movie or something and play my ‘Play Station’ with my pals back home.
“While I am pretty good at relaxing, I am starting to get a bit tired but in saying that there’s still plenty of fight and energy in me for the weekend.”
Fellow Scot Russell Knox, and runner-up in the 2016 event, was out in the afternoon half of the draw.
