Well, that was quite the recovery. Having started his second round of The Open with a seven, a five, a five and an eight, Robert MacIntyre didn’t just have his back against the wall. He was just about embedded in the pointing.
“It was carnage,” gasped MacIntyre as the Oban man reflected on a quite calamitous opening to potentially ruinous day.
After just four holes, the 27-year-old was facing an early exit from the final men’s major of the campaign, but the newly crowned Scottish Open champion conjured the kind of mighty salvage operation that raised the Mary Rose and ended up making the cut.
It was box office stuff. A quartet of birdies coming home repaired some of that chaotic, crippling damage and a three-over 75 hauled him inside the qualifying mark at five-over. One thing you’re guaranteed with this young man is fight. The galleries bellowed their approval.
“I was staring a 90 in the face,” added MacIntyre of the kind of ghoulish vision that must have been a bit like Macbeth glimpsing Banquo’s ghost.
“So, I'm just proud of the way I fought to make the cut. The support I had out there was unbelievable. With that start, I felt like I was letting everyone down, not just myself, but my team and my fans. But it was just about fighting, and they helped me a long the way.”
With fearsome crosswinds hurtling across the links, MacIntyre knew prior to teeing off that he was going to be in for a turbulent shift. “I was actually nervous going out today,” he said.
“I said it to the whole team. They're like ‘why?’ And I said, ‘because that front nine for a left-hander is going to be carnage’. I'm trying to hit hooks but keep them in the sky so it fights the wind.
“When I made that eight on four, my head was completely gone. But Mike my caddie said, ‘look, the fans are here to watch, just give them what they want, some dig and some fight’. I managed to turn it around.”
On a decent day for the Scots, Nairn amateur Calum Scott kept his head while others were losing theirs and progressed to the weekend on four-over after a battling 75.
The former Walker Cup player is now well in the hunt to land the silver medal, the prize given to the leading amateur in the field. It’s been a fine major debut.
Over the punishing Royal Troon links, Scott’s poise and patience have been valuable attributes so far this week and those qualities were on show again yesterday as the US college student fought manfully against a formidable foe.
“It’s been mentally tough,” admitted Scott. “Acceptance and patience are the two key things I've been working on this week. Sometimes it won't go your way, but that's just links golf.
“Part of me does feel like I can enjoy it a little bit more now that I’ve made the cut. It's been an unbelievable experience. Now my goal is that silver medal.
“I feel like in a way I have overachieved. But I'm playing really good this summer, and I'm just wanting to show people what I'm capable of.”
Ewen Ferguson, out in the very first group of the morning, posted a two-over 73 for a five-over total and as the day progressed and the wind grew in menace, the cut mark moved up and the Bearsden man squeezed through.
After his victory in the BMW International Open, Ferguson missed the cut in the Scottish Open last week. This was a timely tonic.
“To be honest, I still feel new to this side of things,” he said of all this hobnobbing with the big names.
“That's why I think it's so impressive how Bob (MacIntyre) copes with it. I think he's a few years ahead of me in terms of playing in these big tournaments, playing with these big stars, and just kind of knowing they're just normal people at the end of the day.”
Barassie’s Jack McDonald, who needed a birdie on the last to give himself a chance of making the weekend, slipped to a late bogey after a valiant bunker shot and his seven-over tally saw him narrowly miss out.
