Weir & First Lefty To Win The Masters Full Of Praise For MacIntyre

Canadian Mike Weir, and the first lefty to win the Masters, was full of praise for Robert MacIntyre after playing the opening two Augusta rounds in the company of the young Scot.

Weir captured the 2003 Masters to also become only the second lefty in the history of the ancient club-and-ball game to win a Major Championship after his play-off victory of American Len Mattice.

Kiwi Sir Bob Charles had been the first lefty in winning the 1963 Open Championship.

Weir, and contesting a 22nd straight Masters since his debut in 2000, joined MacIntyre and Taiwan’s C T Pan over the opening two rounds and had it not been a horror 78 on day one the Ontario-born Weir would have been joining MacIntyre over the weekend and given Pan also missed the cut.

However before leaving Augusta the now 50-year-old Weir spoke highly of MacIntyre’s game

He said: “Robert’s got a great game.  Very nice game.

“He fades the ball well, which for a lefty you need to do around here, and he putts really well.

“You know, he can do well here on the weekend.”

And while MacIntyre had sought out past Masters winner Patrick Reed for a pre-tournament practice round, Weir revealed his strategy ahead of his 2000 debut.

He said: “I called Fred Couples.  I called him up.  Maybe we had played somewhere and I asked him if we could play a Masters practice round and kind of show me around the place a little bit.

“Fred agreed so that’s who I leaned on the back when I first played the Masters.”

MacIntyre headed into the closing two rounds of a maiden Masters now having the cut now in four of four Majors since his brilliant share of sixth at the 2019 Open Championship in Royal Portrush.

He finds himself sharing 21st place with fellow lefty and double Masters winning Bubba Watson.

Four of the five lefties in this 85th Masters made  the  cut.

They included Brian Harman and sharing second place at six-under par and only one off the lead while three-time Augusta winning Phil Mickelson was at three-over.

MacIntyre finds himself only seven shots back as he targets becoming the first Augusta rookie to win the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

Though between the Scot and Justin Rose, who led the field into day three, is 24-year-old American Will Zalatoris also sharing second with Harman and in his first Masters.

MacIntye was teeing-up in rount three alongside Canadian MacKenzie Hughes and in only his second Masters.



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