There have been some startling sartorial statements made in this game down the years. You can probably recall, for instance, those American polo shirts from the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline that were so jaw-droppingly repulsive, they just about led to calls for golf as a whole to be completely abolished.
Here at the Renaissance, Robert MacIntyre is hoping to be dressed for success in the Genesis Scottish Open, even if the attire he sported during his three-under 67 yesterday was almost as garish as Liberace’s closet.
“There are a few wild ones and I’d rather my golf did the talking than the shirt,” chuckled MacIntyre of a natty, foliage-splattered garment that’s produced by a well-kent sporting brand with a famous swoosh.
“I don’t think Rory (McIlroy) would pull this one off … and I’m not either. I might pull this back out in January if I go to Hawaii.”
Out in the marquee group with McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, MacIntyre pieced together a sturdy round that included three birdies in a row on his outward half.
There was the odd tourist excursion too. Having started on the 10th, the 27-year-old’s tee-shot to the par-3 12th ended up on the other side of a wall on the adjacent 14th green.
He took a free drop, then dinked a tidy recovery over the dyke to salvage his par.
With plenty of support from the sidelines, MacIntyre certainly enjoyed his first day at the office as he looks to go one better than last year’s runners-up finish.
“I was very calm out there today and it’s the way I have been playing my golf lately,” he said of a relatively carefree approach.
“It’s the way I play my best golf. I am happy in life and that’s all you need, really. The game of golf is a job, but, at the end of the day, whether it is good or bad, it’s not going to change me.
“Yes, it might make me work harder at certain points, but I know how good I am and what I can do with a golf ball. It’s just about letting it happen and getting out of my own way and being happier on the golf course.
“If I get down on myself and get annoyed and uptight, then it ain’t helping my golf. So, that’s the one thing I’ve really tried to work on.”
“They (the crowds) are here to watch me perform. They might get lucky to watch me win, but I’m here to perform and all I can do is control myself. I remember in 2019 when I stood on my first tee, I could hardly get the ball on the tee.
“But today when I put it on the tee, my hands were calm and I knew exactly what I was doing. This isn’t coming from some magic potion. It’s all from experience. I’m 27 and going to be 28 soon. I’ve got a long career ahead of me and just have to keep learning from everything I do.”
Playing with McIlroy and Hovland helped jolly him along too. “It makes life a bit easier when you are playing with good players and you see them hit in good shots before you,” added MacIntyre.
That, of course, was an alien concept to the Scottish golf writers whose last collective outing on the course featured a succession of shots that floated between appalling and utterly desperate.
It was a decent enough day for a few other Scots in the field. Grant Forrest joined MacIntyre on the three-under mark with a battling 67 while Richie Ramsay posted a 68 to give his hopes of clinching one of the three Open places up for grabs an early lift.
With so many in the line-up already guaranteed a tee-time for Royal Troon, there’s a real opportunity for an outsider to barge his way in.
Ramsay, who has played in eight Opens during his career, is hoping he can be one who sneaks in through the back door.
“It’s a huge carrot that’s dangling in front of us,” said the four-time DP World Tour winner. “If you can grab it here then your confidence grows because you know your game is good. That’s exactly where you want to be going into an Open week.”
Connor Syme also started with a 68 but Ewen Ferguson, the winner of the BMW International Open last Sunday, had to settle for a three-over 73.
