Robert MacIntyre didn’t expect much this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The last time we saw the Scottish lefty, he was celebrating a historic Ryder Cup win with European teammates on the bus leaving Bethpage Black. So he would be forgiven if he didn’t bring his A-game to the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns after not approaching this week with the same level of preparation he normally would.
“I had a laugh when we were driving the buggy back down to the clubhouse,” MacIntyre said on Sunday at the Old Course. “I’ve done everything against the book this week, from preparation, I pitched up Wednesday afternoon. I know the golf courses. Played 12 holes on Wednesday. The diet has not been good this week; I can confirm that. I’ve eaten plenty of takeaways, fish and chips, plenty of others.”
On paper, everything pointed to MacIntyre not being a factor at the Dunhill. But golf often delivers the unexpected.
The 29-year-old shot three consecutive rounds of 66 to finish at 18 under par and win a weather-shortened title by four shots over his Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton.
“Unbelievable. Any time you can win a golf tournament on these shores is special, but just delighted the way I did it,” MacIntyre said. “Played really nice over the three days, and yeah, here we are.”
A week after going 1-1-1 to help Team Europe secure a Ryder Cup victory in New York, the No. 9-ranked player in the world expertly navigated his way around the wind-battered links courses by staying out of trouble.
“It’s just the biggest thing is being able to get over the golf ball and not be scared,” MacIntyre said. “The biggest thing on the three golf courses is to stay out of the pot bunkers, especially off the tee. And I’ve done that well.”
MacIntyre has now won the Genesis Scottish Open and the Dunhill on his home soil. With those two trophies banked, the man from Oban wants to go for the Scottish hat trick by winning his first major at St. Andrews, which will host the Open Championship again in 2027.
“To win anywhere in the world is special, but for a Scotsman, I won The Scottish Open. To win the Dunhill Links at the Home of Golf, there’s no other place you want to win golf tournaments, and the only one that potentially would top this would be an Open Championship at St Andrews,” MacIntyre told the DP World Tour after his win. “But no, this is a special, special win, and for me as a Scotsman, it just elevates that. It’s no secret now. A major championship is what I need or what I want.”
MacIntyre finished runner-up at this year’s U.S. Open and followed it up with a T7 at the Open at Royal Portrush. He knows the next step he has to take and believes he’s close to kicking down the door to his first major title.
