Scotsman Bobby MacIntyre wins RBC Canadian Open with dad at his side

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Having your father on the golf bag is apparently a great cure for homesickness, and it brought the best out of Scotsman Bobby MacIntyre on Sunday as he won the RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf Club.

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“I’m crying with joy but I’m laughing because I didn’t think it was possible,” MacIntyre said after the win. “I wanted to win this for my dad. This has been the guy that taught me the game of golf.”

Beginning the final round with a four-shot lead, MacIntyre shot a final round two-under 68 to finish at 16-under par and hold on to win by one stroke over playing partner Ben Griffin (65).

MacIntyre was cruising along in the lead at the hilly parkland course on a wet Sunday, until back-to-back bogeys at holes No. 12 and 13 brought a number of players back into serious contention, including Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (70) and superstar Rory McIlroy (64). But a birdie at the par-4 15th and three straight pars coming home, was enough for the 27-year-old to capture his first win on the PGA Tour.

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MacIntyre might be a PGA Tour rookie, but he’s no stranger to pressure with two wins on Europe’s DP World Tour and having played on the 2023 European Ryder Cup team. Adding a national Open win to his resume is special, after having been nipped on the 72nd hole last year by McIlroy at his home Scottish Open.

“I feel like national Opens are elevated,” he said. “It’s one golf tournament, one nation, and that’s what it is. I think it just raises the profile of the event, and the crowds come out and support it and, I mean, out there this week, it was incredible.”

But it hasn’t been an easy year for the free-swinging lefty, who returned to Scotland for three weeks before the PGA Championship where he explained that it hadn’t been easy adjusting to life in the U.S. MacIntyre says this week’s win wouldn’t have been possible without the trip home to clear his mind.

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“No chance,” MacIntyre said. “I was struggling. My girlfriend, we just weren’t enjoying the American Orlando lifestyle that we had thought would better my golf.

“It just clears my mind, being back home. I get to spend time with the boys, a couple of beers with ’em, and they just treat me like Bob. I don’t get treated as Bob MacIntyre the golfer, I get treated as Bob MacIntyre one of the boys.”

Having his father Dougie at his side perhaps gave him the confidence he needed on Sunday. Having split with his caddie, MacIntyre was having a hard time finding a one-week fill-in.

“If in doubt, phone dad,” the golfer said.

“It’s unbelievable,” Dougie said. “Last Saturday night, he phoned me, I was sitting on the couch at home eight o’clock Saturday night. I thought: ‘Can I leave my job?’ I was busy at work. The next morning I’m on a flight here.”

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Victor Perez (64) finished third at 14-under par, one shot behind Griffin. A shot further back at 13-under were McIlroy and Tom Kim (64).

Canadian Hughes began Sunday in the second-to-last group with the best chance to follow up Nick Taylor and give Canada back-to-back wins at home for the first time in more than 100 years. The 33-year-old birdied three of his first four holes to grab a share of the lead, but struggled down the stretch, finishing in a tie for seventh at 10-under.

“Pretty gutted. Yeah, I wanted this one pretty badly. I don’t know, this one will sting for awhile. I obviously got off to the start I needed to get off to, and, but I just didn’t,” Hughes said after his round, his voice trailing off. “Yesterday, I felt pretty good with my swing and I would say the other three days I really fought it. I just didn’t feel like I had my stuff. It was a struggle just to kind of get comfortable and to kind of get myself set.

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“Disappointed to finish the way I did. I had a chance going into that last nine and just couldn’t put anything together. Pretty bummed.”

Hughes grew up in Dundas, Ont., just eight kilometres from Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

“Today I felt sort of the enormity of a few of the putts I had, and a few of the shots,” Hughes said. “Kind of felt like I was running out of holes at times and that I needed to make something happen. Obviously in this game, you can’t really force things or feel like you need to start pressing. It’s kind of a hard game to be pressing.”
With Hughes fading on the back nine, Corey Conners (65) charged to finish at 13-under par to win the Rivermead Cup for low Canadian.

“I guess it’s a nice consolation prize,” Conners said. “Pretty special winning that a few years ago. Yeah, definitely something to be proud of. Yeah, obviously disappointing to not win the big trophy, but it’s a cool honor.”
But it was MacIntyre’s day, and over four days in Canada, he managed to turn around a challenging year and make 2024 a rookie season to remember.

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“Bob and I, we’re separated by a body of water in the Irish Sea, but we’re actually not that far away from each other where we grew up in Oban and Belfast,” McIlroy said. “It’s a big culture shock compared to the place where he grew up in Oban. You know, travelling around America, it’s a different world. Some people adapt a little quicker than others. Everyone has to try to find their right rhythm. It looks like Bob’s still figuring that out.”

After Perez had ended McIlroy’s chances, and with MacIntyre heading to the 72nd hole, the Northern Irishman threw his support behind his Ryder Cup teammate.

“It would be great to see him hang on and get that first PGA Tour win,” McIlroy said.

Cue the bagpipes.

jmccarthy@postmedia.com
X: @jonmccarthysun

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