Another major championship, another saltire plonked in the upper reaches of the leaderboard. We’re getting used to this, aren’t we?
After his thrilling second place finish in the US Open at Oakmont last month, Robert MacIntyre backed it up with a sturdy top-10 in The Open here at Royal Portrush.
Trying to catch Scottie Scheffler, of course, was going to be a mighty task akin to attempting to land a shoal of cod with a sieve but MacIntyre dug in with his usual spirit and set about finishing as high as he could.
A back-nine rally for a four-under 67 hoisted the Oban lefty onto a 10-under aggregate. When it was all done and dusted, MacIntyre had earned a share of seventh place.
Back in 2019, MacIntyre marked his major championship debut here at Portrush with a share of sixth. Since then, the Scot has played in 18 more majors and has added four more top-10s.
It continues to be an impressive body of work. “I feel like it’s a matter of time,” said MacIntyre about his prospects of becoming the first Scottish men’s major champion since Paul Lawrie won The Open back in 1999.
The major championships have hurtled by in a flash and MacIntyre has nine months to wait until the Masters at Augusta tees things off again in April.
“It's quick, especially the PGA Tour season,” said MacIntyre of a condensed, packed schedule that would make a tin of sardines look like a vast acreage of space.
“I think it's too jammed. I feel like the schedule that I've been playing for the last three months has been absolutely hectic. I feel I've hardly had a break. But that's part of the job. When you're playing well, you just keep going.”
MacIntyre certainly got going as the holes began to run out at Portrush. Level-par through the 11th, the Ryder Cup player upped the ante coming home and mounted a bold offensive.
He birdied the 12th, then chipped in from off the 14th green for another gain. The punch of the fist showed he was enjoying the charge.
A raking birdie putt from over 25-feet on the 15th bolstered the assault and he came within a whisker of an eagle on the 17th.
“I was frustrated early on and the bogey on the fourth was stupid,” he said as he reflected on his round.
“It was sloppy, and I was being too aggressive to a pin that you just could not miss on one side.
"But I just had to keep saying to myself, ‘stay patient, there's a good finish there if I can stay calm and just pick up the shots where I can’.
“This is my favourite Open venue,” MacIntyre added of this happy hunting ground. “I love the golf course, I love the place. The support has been unbelievable. It’s not far from home as the crow flies and it’s a shame it's not here every year.
“Look, I was coming out here trying to win the golf tournament. But I knew I was too far back going into today. So it was just a case of jockeying for position.
“This place, statistically, is a golf course that I should have been sharper on. My wedge play was really poor this week. There are certain holes this week that were vital, and I played them poorly.
“To really contended I just wasn't sharp enough on those holes, and then on the really tough holes, that's where the dropped shots came and ultimately cost me a real chance.”
With another huge haul of Ryder Cup qualifying points gathered up as well, MacIntyre’s seat on the European plane to Bethpage Park in September is all but booked.
“I thought after the US Open it might be done, but I think it has (been done) now,” he said.
