Robert MacIntyre has made no secret of the homesickness he has felt this year since moving from Scotland to Florida to play his first full season on the PGA Tour.
So he brought a part of home to him – his father, Dougie – and the father-son pairing led to MacIntyre’s victory at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, by one stroke over Ben Griffin, in one of the season’s most heartwarming stories.
“I’m crying with joy, but I’m laughing because I didn’t think it was possible,” MacIntyre said after his first PGA Tour victory.
It was a triumph layered with emotion and plenty of twists and turns as MacIntyre started the final round with a four-stroke lead, saw it melt to zero before he finished four holes, stretched it back to four on the final nine holes and then held off Griffin with a par on the finishing hole.
“This is everything for me and my family, my girlfriend, my team,” said MacIntyre, who finished at 16-under par 264 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. He earned $1.692 million from the $9.4 million purse.
Just getting to Sunday has been a journey for MacIntyre, whose profile jumped last summer when he finished second to Rory McIlroy in the Genesis Scottish Open. In the Ryder Cup, MacIntyre posted a 2-0-1 record as part of the Europeans’ victory in Rome.
He made the decision to come to America to play the PGA Tour full time, but MacIntyre has openly questioned his choice.
“To be honest, probably almost all of us that have come over from the DP World Tour, or at least the majority of us, have struggled,” MacIntyre said.
“I felt like I had a terrible start to the year. Something was stopping me. We kind of, we dug in deeper into stats and whatnot and we’re like, Everything’s all right here. What is it? And then you’ve got to look at yourself. You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and go, You might be the problem. We sat down, we spoke about it, and I think my attitude was a problem.”
MacIntyre also has had two caddies this year and, before the RBC Canadian Open, decided to start fresh. MacIntyre called his father in Oban, Scotland, and asked him to caddie for one week.
It turned into the week of a lifetime for the two of them.
“He’s doing stuff to help me, but he’s doing very little. It’s just about having chats on the golf course. This isn’t, it’s not rocket science; it’s just a game of golf. Hit it where you’re aiming it and just keep walking,” MacIntyre said about having his father alongside during the event.
“My dad wants me to do well because we’re blood, you know what I mean, and there’s no other, there’s nothing other than pride and guts.”
Griffin made three consecutive birdies to go to the 18th hole Sunday one stroke behind MacIntyre. Griffin’s birdie attempt on the final hole from the left fringe came up short, but the runner-up result was good enough for a spot in the Memorial Tournament this week and the Open Championship (Mackenzie Hughes and Maverick McNealy also earned Open spots) later this summer.
As for the MacIntyres, the caddie gig was a one-week wonder.
“Dad is on a flight home Monday,” MacIntyre said. “And I think me and my girlfriend might go home Monday as well and just have a helluva party.”
Ron Green Jr.