‘Beef’ full of praise for Robert MacIntyre

Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston had never heard of Oban before today.

Eighteen holes in the company of Robert MacIntyre put that right.

“He said it’s basically about level with Edinburgh so just keep heading west from there until you hit water,” laughed Beef.

Glencuritten man MacIntyre, it’s fair to say, made quite an impression on Johnston today. He made quite an impression on the leaderboard, too, carding a three-under-par 68 to sit in a tie for second midway through the first round.

Not a bad major championship debut.

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“I thought he played great,” said Beef. “I was very impressed with his game and he’s a good lad as well. We got on really well.

“I loved the way he just got on with it. It was like he just playing with his mates around his local course. Nothing bothered him. Yeah, very impressive.”

MacIntyre made a perfect start to his round, birdieing his first two holes. He dropped his first shot of the day at the fifth – one of four bogeys on his card – before the highlight of his round: a superb eagle-two at the short fifth that got him into a share for a lead.

A birdie at the 17th moved him back to the top of the leaderboard again, only for his par putt at the last to lip out. Even so, he had plenty reason to be satisfied with his day’s work.

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“It was a brilliant day all round,” beamed the 22-year-old. “Enjoyed every bit of it.

“Once I eagled the par-4, I was talking to [my caddie] Greg on the next hole and I said, ‘We’re leading The Open’.

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“But we’ve got to not get ahead of ourselves and just keep doing what we’re doing, enjoying it.

“It’s about jockeying for position. It’s 72 holes. We’ve only played 18. So I want to be in position come Sunday afternoon. That’s what I plan on doing. Hopefully we can do that.”