It’s coming home. Well, not for another 12 months but the 150th Open Championship in St Andrews is already being eagerly anticipated.
Amid unprecedented demand for tickets, which has prompted a come all ye ballot, you’ve probably got more chance of getting your hands on the crown jewels than a day pass for the opening round.
Robert MacIntyre doesn’t need to worry about that. His top-10 finish at Royal St George’s on Sunday secured a return invitation to a very special golfing anniversary.
“Playing in an Open at St Andrews has always been a dream of mine,” he said of a showpiece occasion in the home of the game. “Who knows, that might be the place where I win one of these?”
If he knocked that off, he’d be carried back to Oban by the jubilant masses on a sedan chair. For the time being, MacIntyre is savouring a job well done in Sandwich at the 149th Open. It was another step in the right direction and the 24-year-old knows what the next stride must be.
“That next step is to compete and really fight for one of them on a Sunday,” he said after completing his seventh outing in a major championship. “You can’t buy the experience I’ve had in these majors.
‘My performances this year have been good whether it’s been in the majors, European Tour events, on the PGA Tour or WGC events. If I keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll knock one of these majors off.”
MacIntyre was eight shots behind the leader heading into the final round but barged his way up the order with a typically bold display while all the focus was on the movers and shaker at the top.
“A big step for me would be going out in the final two or three groups of a major,” he added. “But I’ve got so much time on my hands. I need to work a bit smarter, maybe a bit harder on certain things.
‘But what I’m doing, what the people around me are doing, it’s all the right things. And it’s showing in my performances.”
The Open has always been the event that has stirred MacIntyre’s senses. Now he is getting to live that particular dream.
“I always went to the Opens to watch the best players,” reflected the European Tour winner who moved back into the world’s top-50 last night to No 48 on the back of that share of eighth at St George’s.
“It’s a dream for any kid. Ask the lads who were competing at the Scottish Boys’ Championship last week, ‘what would you do if in four years’ time you’re competing in an Open?’ They would be over the moon.
“I do remember the roars when Monty or some of the other Scottish players were doing well.
"It’s completely different when it’s in Scotland, so special to watch. But it’s even better being in it.
"I had goosebumps on the 18th green at the weekend there. Seeing that being experienced for other people is cool but having it happen to yourself is even more special.
“I’ve played an Open in Ireland and in England and the crowds were brilliant. But to be a Scotsman competing in an Open in Scotland? You’re not going to beat that.
"The Scottish Open was brilliant with 10,000 fans. There’s going to be five times that number at St Andrews.”
MacIntyre may have been the lone Scot in a global field at St George’s but he ended up as the best of British as he eclipsed the efforts of the highly-fancied campaigners from the other side of Hadrian’s rickety fence.
“That made the result even better,” said the former Scottish Amateur champion who has bolstered his bid for a European Ryder Cup place. “The performance is just good for everything. For my belief and the belief of the people around me, who know we’re doing the right things.
“Looking at everything that’s coming up in the near future, there is a lot going on this year. I’m doing the right things to give myself a chance.”
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