Robert MacIntyre called his title defense at the Genesis Scottish Open last week “horrific,” as the Scotsman puttered and billowed to a T65 finish at the Renaissance Club.
But as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have recently pointed out, there is rarely time to celebrate or sulk in professional golf. The hamster wheel is always moving. There’s always another tournament to attack. This week, that tournament is the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
While MacIntyre was upset about his poor title defense in Scotland, he’s not one to dwell on poor shots and bad showings. He has a quick hack to flush it all away. He just asks his team to give him one hour.
“I can go as mental as I want for an hour and then after that, just back to life,” MacIntyre said Tuesday at Royal Portrush.
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When the 28-year-old man from Oban says he can go “mental,” he means he gives himself free rein to do what’s necessary to get the frustration and disappointment out of his system.
“I can do whatever I want for an hour. Just anything I want,” MacIntyre said. “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.
“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 said, laughing. “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.”
MacIntyre attributed his flat title defense to acclimating to new irons he had yet to use playing links golf. MacIntyre cleared his mind after talking with the media and compartmentalized what happened at the Renaissance Club before turning the page to Portrush.
While the Scotsman has a mental hack for moving past his failures, he doesn’t plan to harness his fiery nature that often comes out during tournament rounds. Having that quick exhaust vent is a key part of what makes Robert MacIntyre Robert MacIntyre.
“I’m fiery on the golf course when I’m in tournament rounds,” MacIntyre said. “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. 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.”
MacIntyre will approach this week at Royal Portrush much differently than he did his title defense in Scotland. The Scottish Open means so much to MacIntyre and the people of his home country that it adds pressure that he doesn’t normally feel, even at major championships.
While MacIntyre is a trendy pick to hoist the Claret Jug this week, he will tee it up at one of his favorite courses in the world feeling freer than he did last week.
“I still feel like I’ve got no real care,” he said. “Yeah, people may have picked me to win it, but to be honest, there are so many guys this week that can win this tournament. I’m going to go out there and enjoy playing Royal Portrush again and give it my absolute best, and that’s all I can guarantee.”
