It was quite the week for Robert MacIntyre, the 27-year-old Scottish golfer who won the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday.
For the uninformed, it was MacIntyre’s first career PGA Tour victory (it came in his 45th start) and offered some welcome job security on Tour. It also came just weeks after MacIntyre was open about the loneliness that comes with playing golf in a different country and the business-like mentality pros have when inside the ropes. He said he was homesick.
Robert MacIntyre’s teary victory with dad came with added meaning
“It’s no secret I’ve been living in America,” MacIntyre, who lives in the Orlando, Fla., area said at last month’s PGA Championship. “It’s been tough. It’s not like Oban [in Scotland]. When I go back home, it’s a lot of friends and family you get to spend time with, my nieces, everyone that’s close to me and really cares for me. When I’m in America, it’s just me, my girlfriend, and we’re trying to — I don’t know, trying to live as good a life as we can. But it’s difficult when we’re both so close to family and friends.”
MacIntyre added that he’s more than happy playing on the PGA Tour, only that “for me, I’m just trying to work out life, to be honest.”
After Sunday, things have to be at least a tiny bit easier. MacIntyre’s Sunday 68 gave him a one-shot win over Ben Griffin and unlocked a ton of other goodies: like entry into the final two Signature Events of the season, even more for next year, a Masters berth and his PGA Tour membership extended through the 2026 season.
He also won with his dad, Dougie, as his caddie. Without a regular looper, MacIntyre called in his dad for an emergency fill-in. They won. MacIntyre said having his dad on the bag didn’t necessarily help him relax or focus, but there was something to having “blood” on the bag, someone he knew would be invested in the outcome just as much as he was.
“He’s going to get a nice paycheck out of it, and my mom and dad will be mortgage-free now, and life’s looking a little bit better on that side of things, but he just wants me to do well because I’m his son, and there’s no angles to it, there’s nothing,” MacIntyre said. “It’s just shear fight for me. I mean, I fight for him as well.”
As for his mother, MacIntyre had good news for her, too. Not only his first-ever win and that monkey off his back, but a winner’s check of $1.692 million, which easily eclipsed what he earned in his previous 15 starts combined this season.
He called her up after his win via FaceTime.
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” she told him.
“Some caddie,” MacIntyre joked. “Wow. You might not see Dad until next week, from a bender.”
She fought back tears and was at a loss for words.
“Look at Mom,” he said to his father. “First time you’ve been quiet in your life, Mom.”
“Guess what, Mom?” he continued. “That might be the mortgage paid off.” [Laughs]
The call ended seconds later, with his mom still giddy and emotional. MacIntyre told her he’d see her later and that he loved her. She said the same.
“That was incredible,” she said.
You can check out the video below.