Robert MacIntyre needs to play attacking golf – “I get bored otherwise” – but he acknowledges he’s got to pick his moments.
The Scot had a decent week at the Betfred British Masters. But he took himself out of the tournament from a promising position on Saturday afternoon.
He tried to drive the tenth green when it wasn’t really necessary. He got in trouble, took a double bogey six and still fizzing at the 11th, took a triple bogey there.
Five shots that wouldn’t have made up a winning difference by themselves, but he’d have been in position to attack when it WAS necessary.
‘Those two holes cost me’
“If I could take one shot back, it would be that one on 10,” he said after Sunday’s 69 brought him in at three-under, tied for 31st.
“Just pull myself back from that. If I’d hung back and played sensible, 11 would have happened either. Those two holes cost me being in there with a chance today.”
On Sunday, with nothing to lose, he went for it again at the 10th and made an easy birdie. But the circumstances and situations were entirely different.
“I’ve got to be in position and that’s the problem,” he said. “I shot five birdies in the last six holes on Friday and today I didn’t miss a shot on the back nine.
“Saturday wasn’t the time for me to do what I did at 10 – it would have been different if it had been today and I’d been five or six back.”
MacIntyre knows he has to rein himself in at times.
“‘I’m always ‘go, go, go’. Even if there’s a small gap in the trees, I’m going to go for it. That’s a problem of mine, we know that.
“I play golf on the line. I get bored, if I’m being blatantly honest. When I’m playing golf I want to have fun and I get that by being aggressive. But disappointments also come from that.
“There are weeks when it works. And, if anything, we are trying to get more of me taking the reins off and going at it. But in hindsight, it was probably the wrong decision at that time.”
‘If they’re ‘yes’ men they shouldn’t be there’
IN YOUR LIFE…👀😮
You want sauce with that?
Way to kick-start a birdie run…👊🏽@robert1lefty#BetfredBritishMasters
⛳️🇬🇧🏌🏼♂️😎 pic.twitter.com/IoEQdALGTZ
— Bounce (@bouncespmgt) May 6, 2022
The triple that followed the double will get him pelters from his team debrief, he knows.
“That can’t happen,” he said. “We’ll have a good team chat during this week and I am sure there will be a few harsh words directed at me.
“That’s the only way I can deal with it, them being honest. If they are just ‘yes’ men, then they shouldn’t be there. They are going to hang me out to dry at times and I’ll rip into them at points.
“As long as we are honest with each other and tell it how it is behind closed doors, then we can move forward.”
MacIntyre’s next event in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, but after that he wants a firmer schedule than he’s had of late.
“The game is there,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to getting a run of events where I can build some momentum as opposed to stop-start at the moment.
“I really want to play but the travel is the problem prior to the US PGA, so I’m taking next week off. I’ve got a couple of things I need to do and will also practice a bit and play a bit of shinty.”