Bob MacIntyre believes the “buzz” of being back at the Masters – and imported brown sauce – can fuel his bid to win a first Major title and a Green Jacket.
The world No.17 will tee it up in wet Augusta this week for the first time since 2022. Since then, the left-hander from Oban has won twice on the PGA Tour – including the Scottish Open – and gone unbeaten at the Rome Ryder Cup.
Speaking under an umbrella to shield him from the morning rain in Georgia yesterday, MacIntyre said: “It’s great to be back here – it is a special place. And I’m a far better player than I was the previous two years.”
And the next step now for the Scot, 28, is competing and winning a Major. Since 2003, left-handers have won the Masters six times (Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson) while there are a record eight in the field this year.
“I just want one chance and, once you get that chance, you say to yourself: ‘I know I can compete here’ and you just build momentum and build confidence,” he said.
“I believe if I play well, I have got a good chance, the same as everyone else. You just try and go out here and compete hard and, come the back nine on Sunday, if you are in with a chance, then it’s throw the kitchen sink at it.”
MacIntyre made the cut in his first ten Majors starts – including finishing tied 12th on his 2021 Masters debut – and went unbeaten in Rome to show his big-game temperament.
“I think the bigger tournaments, there is more of a buzz,” he said. “And that can only help your golf. Whereas at the start, I was obviously last off and there were not many people watching. Whereas when you are playing and there is a buzz from the get-go, it heightens awareness, heightens the intensity that you have got. I think Ryder Cup, Majors, big tournaments, I think it just elevates it even more. You just think about it more and the intensity is high.”
MacIntyre said he took “little nuggets” of advice from three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray – which he would not reveal – during the BMW PGA pro-am last September.
But the Scotland No. 1’s love of home is no secret after abandoning living in Florida last year because he felt homesick. Now he has a coping strategy.
MacIntyre, who will have 10 friends and family here and his dad Dougie caddieing in the par-3 tournament, said: “We always travel with sauces – little things from home which make you feel at home. There is brown sauce, there is everything. We have got everything that we need. I am a simple guy with a simple life. I don’t do anything fancy when I am away from the golf course. I am bare minimum – I don’t need fancy restaurants and that. I like the food that I like and get on with it.”
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