Robert MacIntyre has credited his father with teaching him the game of golf after claiming his first PGA Tour title by his side at the RBC Canadian Open.
Having parted company with caddie Scott Carmichael, MacIntyre called upon his father, Dougie, as an emergency stand-in last Saturday.
That made it all the more special for Oban golfer MacIntyre when he secured his first PGA Tour triumph in only his 44th event.
MacIntyre was able to hold off a late charge from American Ben Griffin to secure a one-shot victory, with his final round of 68 helping him to secure a 16-under-par total.
He had planned to play in US Open qualifying this week, once again alongside his father, however, he will now be exempt due to his sharp rise from 76th to 39th in the world golf rankings.
MacIntyre says the influence of his father on his career stretches back long beyond his caddying duties in Canada.
Speaking at his press conference after the victory, MacIntyre said: “He was wanting me to do well just because I’m blood.
“Yes, he’s going to get a nice pay cheque out of it, and my mum and dad will be mortgage-free now, so life is looking a little bit better on that side of things.
“But he just wants me to do well because I’m his son. There’s no angles to it, it’s just sheer fight for me. I fight for him as well.
“Coming down the last, when I hit that seven iron, I watched it in the sky. I knew it was never enough club so I hit it as hard as I could, and it was perfect.
“I had a little tear in my eye, because I knew that was going to be close. I still had a job to do.
“But I just felt like – the guy that properly taught me the game of golf, I was going to win a tournament with him on my bag. It’s so special.”
MacIntyre senior put yardage book to good use
MacIntyre’s father is head greenkeeper at Glencruitten golf club, a short distance from the family home.
He is also steeped in local shinty history having scored twice in Oban Camanachd’s victory over Kingussie in the final of the Camanachd Cup in 1996, and is currently the manager of Oban Celtic.
MacIntyre was thrilled with the way his father stepped up to the caddying duties at short notice.
He added: “He was a caddie for the week, but at the end of the day he’s my dad.
“The emotion you saw at the end was almost out of sheer disbelief that we did it with him on the bag.
“The amount of work that caddies do, week-in, week-out, which is unbelievable help, then I just do it with my dad who has a yardage book.
“He lost the yardage book once, and he couldn’t get in on Monday because he didn’t have credentials.”
Work on mental side of game pays off
MacIntyre recently spoke of his struggles with homesickness during the early stages of his maiden season on the PGA Tour.
The 27-year-old says he has been focused on dealing with the mental aspects of the game in recent weeks, which he feels has now paid off.
He added: “I knew I had a hell of a fight in me. I have been working really hard on the mental side of the game.
“Once we picked apart my game of golf, we realised the game of golf wasn’t the problem – I was the problem.
“I have worked really hard at that with my team. I have said it for the last four or five weeks, that the mental side is so important to me.
“This reiterates it.
“It just shows I can compete at the top level – I always knew I could, but until you do it, you really don’t know.”
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