Robert MacIntyre makes big change after challenges on PGA Tour

The American Dream never completely sat well with Robert MacIntyre. 

The man from the remote town of Oban on Scotland’s west coast has spoken candidly about the challenges he has faced over 4,000 miles away Stateside during his first year on the PGA Tour.

After securing one of 10 cards available on the DP World Tour last season, MacIntyre upped sticks and moved to Orlando in his attempts to fully commit to the next stage in his career.

He has taken advantage of his huge opportunity too, most notably winning the Canadian Open with his father Dougie on the bag last month. That memorable victory in Ontario has ensured MacIntyre will be playing on the PGA Tour for at least the next two seasons.

But the 27-year-old has also made no secret of the difficulties that come alongside a culture change that has seen him isolated from his family and friends, as well as his colleagues that he has formed such close bonds with on the DP World Tour.

• Pro claims up to 20 golfers are cheating on the DP World Tour

• Joost Luiten has Olympics place taken away…AGAIN!

The loneliness has affected him and finding the balance between personal and professional life in this new world has not been easy. He has nothing against Florida, either. It’s just not home.

“My rent is up I think about the end of August, and I don’t think it’ll be getting it renewed to be honest,” he told reporters at The Renaissance Club ahead of his homecoming at this week’s Genesis Scottish Open.

“Scotland is my home, and yeah, I’ve joined Isleworth (the luxury practice facility in Florida). That will always be a place I go and practise in the wintertime but there’s nothing like home. Scotland, this is where I want to be.”

MacIntyre is keen to stress, however, that he is making a life move, not a career move. The PGA Tour will still be his domain – and he is thriving there.

“I’m still going to play over there,” he said. “Nothing at all is going to change. I’m not going to pay a lot of money for a rent that I’m not staying in. Nothing is changing, just the rent. I’ll take a house for maybe a month, two months when I’m there.

• PGA Tour winner explains mix-up that almost cost him Scottish Open place

• Ryder Cup hopeful reacts to captaincy snub

“Winter in Scotland is not the prettiest. So if I want to compete against the best in the world that are practising in good conditions, good weather, yes, I’ve got the opportunity to do that. But I don’t want to do that the rest of my life when I realised that I like coming back to Scotland.

“But to be able to prepare, I think Hawaii is the first event of the season. I am preparing as good as I can in Oban in Scotland from December to January. So there’s going to be a time where you have to go maybe a month there, which is probably fine. It’s not a big thing.”

This is the first time MacIntyre has returned to this East Lothian links since agonisingly missing out on the national title he regards so highly to Rory McIlroy 12 months ago.

The inspired Scot looked destined for a playoff at the very least when he pulled off a miraculous birdie on his 72nd hole in last year’s showpiece, but McIlroy snatched victory with two birdies of his own in an epic Sunday denouement.

As candid as ever, MacIntyre knows how much it would mean to go one step further this time around.

“If it’s not a major championship, this is the one I want,” he added. “I’ve watched it since a young boy at Loch Lomond. Scottish Open is the one. There’s no other golf tournament, I would say, other than the major championships that would overtake this one.”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.