MacIntyre: “I Earned My Place On GB & I Hero Cup Side”.

3 years ago by Comments Off on MacIntyre: “I Earned My Place On GB & I Hero Cup Side”.

… in Abu Dhabi 

It may have been a bit of a squeeze trying on his GB & I Hero Cup team trousers but Scot Robert MacIntyre insists being present this week in Abu Dhabi is a perfect fit.

MacIntyre, who last played in a team event as an amateur in the 2017 Walker Cup, earned his place in Tommy Fleetwood’s side on the back of his quality victory at the Italian Open.

Robert MacIntyre hitting his second down the par-5 eighth hole at the Abu Dhabi GC during Wednesday’s practice round (Photo – @TourMiss)

The top-ranked Scot fought his way into a play-off alongside reigning US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and won at the first extra hole in Rome.

It was really no surprise, and despite an average start to 2022, that he has found his way to the UAE capital.

He said (smiling): “I tried on my trousers but they were a bit small but then I put that down to Christmas and over-eating

“It was cool walking into my hotel room seeing everything laid out, and it’s just cool being a part of this week.

“I’m here also feeling I earned being here as a member of the GB & I team, as 2022 was an alright year.  It wasn’t my best season but it was a good finish, winning in Italy.  It was a good place to win and to also win in a pretty strong field.

“There was just the one top-10 early on, so the win helped steady the ship.

“I am just enjoying myself again, and I think you saw that out there today playing alongside Shane and Seamus”.

MacIntyre has played this week’s host Abu Dhabi course in the past when the club hosted the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but for this week’s event the course is very playable, and with rough nowhere the lenght players faced from 2006 to 2021 for the regular DP World Tour event.

Hero Cup organisers gathered all 20 players together on Tuesday night within the host Westin Hotel, and located just a wedge shot from the practice range, for a wonderful evening when the last three winning European Ryder Cup captains – Jose Maria Olazabal, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn – spoke of their Ryder Cup experiences and in an exercise that Luke Donald can be congratulated in suggesting.

“It was a great evening, listening to players that I have watched and admired over the years,” he said.  “It’s always great to hear their insights so it was very rewarding”.

And as MacIntyre mentioned he played a Wednesday practice round in the company of the Irish duo of Shane Lowry and Seamus Power.  He knows Lowry well but this week is a first time he’d met the current PGA Tour No. 1.

“It was great playing alongside the Irish lads and we had a lot of fun out today”, MacIntyre said.

And after ending their practice range, Lowry was full of praise for MacIntyre’s putting and going so far to suggest is there was a player within the GB & I team you would call-up to hole a 10-foot putt on Sunday to win the event for GB & I it would the Scot

And the World No. 20 ranked Lowry was also clearly impressed with MacIntyre’s putting.

Lowry said: “Bob MacIntyre with the putter in hand was really impressive out there today, so much so, if you asked me who I’d pick to hole a 10-footer on Sunday on the 18th that would win the Hero Cup for GB & I, I would call on Bob.

“Bob’s not only a good putter but there’s something about his make-up that when he walks-up to a putt you know he’s going to hole it. 

“That’s a trait we saw when won out in Italy last year and could see him again do really well this coming year”.



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