PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Robert MacIntyre will be fine, as long as you give him an hour.
This time last year MacIntyre was the toast of golf, becoming the first Scotsman to win his national open in 15 years. But the 28-year-old enters Royal Portrush off a so-so title defense of the Genesis Scottish Open, making the weekend, yet finishing 17 shots behind winner Chris Gotterup. MacIntyre is one of the more well-liked competitors inside the ropes and out in professional golf, but he’s also never been shy to hide his emotions, some of which were visible last week at the Renaissance Club.
Speaking to the media Tuesday ahead of the Open, MacIntyre was asked how he deals with frustration and disappointment, and his response revealed the fire that has made him one of the world’s best. RELATED: The hidden message in the mural outside Portrush “I’m pretty good at telling everyone give me an hour,” MacIntyre explained. “I can go as mental as I want for an hour, and after that, I just back to life.” In itself, this seems relatively standard and nothing worth relaying. Where the magic resides, MacIntyre said, is what he does in that hour.
“I can do whatever I want for an hour. Just anything I want,” MacIntyre continued. “You can break things. You can literally do whatever I want for an hour. After that hour is gone, my job’s done. For an hour and a half before my round, two hours before my round, I’m preparing, so nobody gets in my way. It’s warmup, stretching, gym work, all of that. So there’s a five-, six-, seven-, eight-hour window that I’m working.”
MacIntyre used last week as an example, saying that after his media session he “calmed down and was thinking clear,” attributing his performance to assimilating new equipment into links golf. The compartmentalization helped him put what happened in the past so he could get ready for this week.
“If you have a bad day at work, you’re going to be annoyed. It happens more often than not for me as well,” MacIntyre laughed. “It’s just about once that’s gone, it’s been difficult in the past for me to reset, but nowadays, there’s so many golf tournaments and you don’t know what’s coming the next week.”
As for his emotion on the course, MacIntyre said that’s who he is and doesn’t plan on changing anytime soon.
“I’m fiery on the golf course when I’m in tournament rounds. I’ll drop, I was going to say the odd, but a few bad words in there. I’ll hit the bag. I’ll say some harsh things, but that’s what gets me going,” MacIntyre said. “If I walk around and I’m all happy I just made a double bogey or people are clapping, thanks very much, that’s not me. “I’m needing to smash something up. I want to rip a glove. I do something to get that anger out. It’s better out than in for me. Some people it’s better holding it, but for me it’s get it out and then just do not let it affect the next shot. Simple.”
Luckily for MacIntyre, Portrush is his favorite links course in the world (which may get him in trouble back home in Scotland), and he finished T-6 here at the 2019 Open. In short, don’t be surprised if he’s contending for the claret jug come Sunday … and unfair to display how he feels about it.***
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
