Top Scot Robert MacIntyre could not be prouder returning to the Masters for a first time in three years as a two-time PGA Tour champion.
MacIntyre’s contested 86 tournaments, 87 if you count being a member of the winning Rome Ryder Cup side, since his last appearance at Augusta in sharing 23rd place in the 2022 hosting of the Masters.
The Oban lefty had been a pro for five years before breaking through for a first time in the pro ranks with a 2017 MENA Tour triumph but having to wait three years ahead of a maiden DP World Tour success in late 2020 in Cyprus.
It was MacIntyre’s then top-50 World Ranking early in 2021 that earned him a first Masters appearance while his eventual T12th result was good enough for an invitation to return to the famed Georgia golfing gem a year later.
Top Scot Robert MacIntyre returning to The Masters for a first time in three years now as a two-time PGA Tour champion. Image Augusta National
MacIntyre’s 2023 season was capped in July with his agonising runners-up finish on home soil to Rory McIlroy at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Despite finishing runner-up and jumping 50 places on the World Rankings to the new No. 54, he contested a further 13 events in season 2023 but could not manage to end the year inside the top-50.
That all changed in his 15th event of last year, and with a full 2024 PGA Tour card in his wallet and his father, Dougie acting as caddy, MacIntyre became the first Scot in 98-years to win the RBC Canadian Open.
MacIntyre’s reward, a two-year PGA Tour exemption and a return invitation to the 2025 Masters and he couldn’t be happier driving back down Magnolia Lane on Sunday.
First task was to check-in with officials allocating him No. 28 that will appear on his caddies traditional white overalls.
“It feels great”, he said when asked by reporters how it felt being back at the Georgia golfing gem.
“It’s one of the golf tournaments you want to be involved in as this is a very, very, very special place and I am looking forward to it.”
MacIntyre had played nine holes on Sunday and returned Monday for the first day of official practice before the threat of storms forced officials to shut the course down to players and patrons around 11.30am local time to any further play.
It’s very apparent that compared to the still wide-eyed rookie of three years ago, there is a real spring in the step of the World No. 17th ranked golfer, a spring that only a two-time PGA Tour champ may exhibit.
He said: “I’m a far better player than I was the previous two years I was here.
“I just think I am starting to work out the game of golf more. There’s more to it than just swinging a golf club. I am a big believer that it is less golf swing and more what the golf ball is doing. I think out here in America the majority of the guys are the same.
“It’s more about scoring than how pretty it looks. I think I’ve worked that out. I know that it’s more like a bowling alley lane, getting the bumpers up. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be in these parameters.
“That’s the way I play golf now. I don’t really worry too much about the golf swing. I do my checks, do my basics and go out and play golf and hope it is there.”
Team MacIntyre took the 400 mile drive on Saturday from Orlando to Augusta, arriving early evening and with MacIntyre checking-in on Sunday and with his caddy being allocated No. 28, ahead of the duo taking to the course for 9-holes.
MacIntyre said: “I thought I might be here a bit too early’. But, seeing the weather today, you know what, if I have to sit on the couch for the rest of the day, then so be it. I am not worried.
“The course is firm, it is fast and that was only Sunday.
“There are quite a lot of holes you are looking at and going ‘I don’t remember being able to see that hole through the trees.
“When you are walking on the 15th fairway, you can see the fifth green through the trees. And, on 16, we were walking down and I was like ‘something looks different.’ That is Mother Nature.”
Fortunately, the forecast is rain-free until the possibility of showers on Friday,
