Top-ranked Scot Robert MacIntyre’s determined to challenge the expected 30mph winds predicted could wreak havoc over the final round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
MacIntyre had superbly made it five halfway cuts from five majors in finding his way into the weekend rounds and was rock solid for 17 holes before the bitter disappointment of a bogey at the last in a third round of a level par 72.
The effort dropped the top-ranked Scot back to four-over to head to the clubhouse just outside the top-50.
Robert MacIntyre ready to throw caution to the wind and hopefully go low on day four of the 2021 PGA Championship
He said: “I felt like my score doesn’t reflect how well I played as I didn’t drive it great but was never in any real trouble.
“I hit a lot of great iron shots inside 15-feet but couldn’t hole a putt. You get days like that. I’ve struggled on the greens this week and it’s hard to build momentum when you’ve missed a few, so it’s hard to get the confidence back and trust what you’re doing”.
MacIntyre kick-started his third round birdieing the second hole for a second day running splitting the fairway with a 326-yard drive before landing his second just shy of the green and with the young Scot brilliantly landing a 100-foot chip shot to just 14-inches for a birdie ‘4’.
MacIntyre gave the shot back with a bogey on four before a drive down the left-side of the par-5 seventh five yards longer than the second.
He missed the green right but again chipping superbly and this time to four-feet for a second birdie of his round.
For a second day running, MacIntyre headed to the 10th at one-under and to be two-under for opening nine over the three rounds.
MacIntyre produced eight straight pars on his inward half before finding a waste bunker off the tee at the par-4 18th. His second was short of the green from where he chipped and two-putted from 48-feet for bogey.
And when quizzed on his thoughts heading into the final round, and also the forecast of strong winds, the young Scot produced a determined response.
He said: “I’ll just enjoy it. It’s part of the game. The tougher it is, the better it is, I suppose.
“If you have a good score in that kind of wind, then you’re going to leapfrog a fair few players. Hopefully, we can get tough weather and I can play good and we rise up the leader-board”.
Fellow Scot Martin Laird was just into the early stages of his round when MacIntrye finished.
