MacIntyre Wastes Little Time Heading Down Swiss Alps Before Certain High Of Ryder Cup Selection

2 years ago by Comments Off on MacIntyre Wastes Little Time Heading Down Swiss Alps Before Certain High Of Ryder Cup Selection

For any golfer, ending a round with a double-bogey is no good cause to be hanging around for a relaxing beverage and a long fireside-like chat.

No, Robert MacIntyre wasted little time in packing-up his golf clubs and jumping in a waiting courtesy car for the two-hour odd journey to Geneva Airport and a flight back to his beloved Scotland.

It had been a third straight frustrating visit to the Omega European Masters for MacIntyre, as evident in taking a double-bogey down the final hole after sending his drive into the area down the right side of the 18th where 30-years ago this weekend legendary Seve Ballesteros pulled off one of the more masterful strokes of his career.

Seve defied the golf world, and also his then very young caddy Billy Foster, clearing the eight-foot high concrete wall of a swimming pool and avoiding any of the many trees to land his shot short of the green from where Ballesteros would chip-in for a closing birdie.

Not such fortune for MacIntyre who was forced into chipping backwards to a more ‘open’ position before superbly finding the green in three but proceeded to three-putt the hole for a closing ‘6’ and end in a then share of 55th place.

“I am just happy to be heading home to be honest with you, as it’s been a poor week on the greens,” he said.

“I had played half-decent but then the last round today … well, I was just trying to find a decent game.  I was trying different shots and my week rounded off with the last hole there.

“So, it’s just disappointing”.

MacIntyre will still be in transit when the Swiss tournament concludes and there is confirmation of the final standings in the year-long 2023 European Ryder Cup selection process.

He headed up the Swiss Alps on Tuesday knowing that it was a golf course that did not suit his game but the Scot dug deep to make the halfway cut with scores of 68 and 69 but it was not a tournament where MacIntyre would be in contention.

There was the frustration at the 72nd hole but there was some brilliance at the 71st when a wild MacIntyre tee shot landed on a concrete cart path and rather than take a drop, the Scot played off the path to superbly sent his shot over the trees and some six-feet from the flag from where he holed out for the fifth of five closing day birdies.

“My energy levels were fine this week, and this is only my third week in a row but then I’ve always struggled up here, and it’s not been my favourite place,” he said.

“Though I made the cut and got a couple of points on the board, so I will just go and get on the road and head to the airport and by the time I take-off I will know where I stand”.

Nearest rival in Germany’s Yannick Paul is fourth on the ‘Europe’ Ryder Cup points table but he too was struggling, dropping some 26 spots on the leaderboard to be tied in 42nd place and with nine holes to play.

While Poland’s Adrian Meronk, and who posted a third day 64 despite also a double on 18, was back in a tie for ninth at the time of filing this article and well shy of the second place finish he desires.

With MacIntyre the man with the Ryder Cup selection target on his back, he agreed it has been a stressful last two weeks.

“The last two weeks have been hell”, he said.

“There’s been the groupings the first two rounds, the media hype and everything has just been tough,” said MacIntyre.

“I put pressure on myself expecting to play well and while it’s a golf course I have struggled on, I felt my game was good coming into this week but I putted absolutely horrifically all week.

“Yes, the pressure has been high but that’s why I played golf.”

MacIntyre clearly sounding the pressure he’s been under to secure the third and final automatic ‘Europe’ points table Ryder Cup qualifying place but the champagne’s sure to be on ice when he finally arrives home in Oban early this evening.

Well done, Bob.

 



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