Heading into this Open Championship, Bob MacIntyre freely acknowledged that it would be a test of discipline and patience as much as anything else.
It was a prophecy which rang true before he had even struck his opening tee shot here on the sun-scorched links of Royal Birkdale.
When MacIntyre stood on the first tee yesterday morning at 7.19am, the conditions were idyllic. It was flat-calm, the morning sun had broken through, and the sound of birdsong could be heard from nearby trees.
Yet, as he teed up his ball and took aim, the serenity of his surroundings was shattered when a drone flew overhead and immediately into his line of sight.
MacIntyre has cut an irascible figure at times this season, most notably at The Masters back in April, and this could easily have been the type of thing to have the steam coming out of his ears.
‘I could hear it coming in and I was like: “Please, just keep flying over the top of me” — and it just sat above me,’ he reflected afterwards.
Bob MacIntyre waits for a drone flying overhead to move before teeing off at the first hole
‘Then they announced me on the tee, and I was like: “I’m not hitting until that drone is out of the way”. I don’t know who spoke to it, but someone did.
‘I knew from the practice days this was going to be a real test of my patience, real test of my mind, and I thought I did a great job.’
A great job, indeed. MacIntyre regained his composure to make birdie on the 1st, courtesy of holing a 45-foot tram-liner.
On the 2nd, his approach shot from 172 yards came to rest a mere two feet from the pin. He had knocked it stiff and duly tapped it in for a second birdie in succession.
It was a flying start and it didn’t take long until the early crowds following MacIntyre, along with playing partners Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick, began to swell in number.
He dropped a shot at the 8th when he missed the green and couldn’t get up and down after opting to use his putter. But that proved to be his only bogey of the day.
MacIntyre played the back nine quite superbly, all the more impressive given that he admitted earlier this week he was struggling to come up with a plan for the inward half.
MacIntyre was dialed in at Royal Birkdale as he made an early move on day one at The Open
He picked up two more birdies on the way home, the first coming via another monster 40-foot putt on the 12th, before another followed on the 14th.
He could easily have dropped a shot on the final hole after pulling his second shot up against the grandstand at the right of the green. But he showed a magic touch with his wedge, playing a superb flop shot from a tricky lie, leaving himself a tap-in for par.
It all added up to a three under par opening round of 67, which MacIntyre would declare to be ‘almost the perfect round of golf’.
Ultimately, this was a really classy and mature display of golf from MacIntyre. He was calm when he needed to be and executed his game plan.
He largely resisted the temptation to hit driver, opting instead to hit long irons and his rescue club.
It meant he was often 20 or 30 yards back from Fowler and Fitzpatrick off the tee, but the fact he shot a lower score than both his playing partners showed the wisdom of his approach.
‘It was a test of discipline and almost acceptance, taking a lot of short clubs off the tee,’ he explained. ‘My job was to stay out of the pot bunkers.
‘I feel I was very, very cautious off the tee. But the way I’ve been playing, approach play has been really good.’
MacIntyre was in good spirits alongside Alex Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler in his morning round
The only time MacIntyre threatened to boil over was on the par-five 17th when he pulled his second shot into a bunker.
‘You idiot,’ he shouted at himself. But he splashed out of the bunker and took his two putts for par. No damage done.
MacIntyre could put his feet up in the afternoon and reflect on an excellent day’s work as he headed back to the house he is renting in Southport for the week.
As temperatures soared close to 30 degrees Celsius at Birkdale, he may well have felt like he needed a plunge into an ice bath.
Instead, an afternoon in the hot tub with his young son Findlay was on the cards as he looked to switch off from golf as much as possible.
‘It’s literally about sticking to the plan and just playing good golf,’ said the Scot. ‘I said to you guys at the start of the week, I know my good golf is good enough to get in about it.
‘That’s the plan. Just go home now and chill out, probably go in the hot tub with the wee man.
‘It’s not too hot. It’s like a swimming pool. It’s like a cool bath. We’ll go home and chill out and think about golf again probably tomorrow when I’m driving in.’
MacIntyre reacts after narrowly missing with a birdie putt on the 9th green at Royal Birkdale
MacIntyre is certainly intent on making a splash this week. His form has been patchy and indifferent for much of the season. But he looked much more at ease with himself yesterday, much more attuned to the demands of Royal Birkdale.
He has been in the game long enough now to know that no prizes are handed out after the opening round. But there was much to encourage MacIntyre in this opening round. If he can sustain this over the next three days, he will be firmly in contention to lift the Claret Jug come Sunday night.
‘I could happily retire if I won an Open, won any major,’ he added. ‘If something happened, I could happily walk away from the game of golf.
‘Yeah, I’ll openly say it. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face. It would be all my goals that I ever dreamed of complete if I done that, but there’s a long way to go.’
