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It’s not every week you play in the same golf tournament as Justin Timberlake, Luis Figo, Bill Murray and Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland.

However, despite the all-star cast that has assembled on the east coast of Scotland for this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, rookie Robert MacIntyre says that he is determined to treat it like any other week – and hopefully notch a win to cap a tremendous first year on the European Tour.

MacIntyre goes into the week at St Andrews as the highest-ranked Scot on the the Race To Dubai, sitting in 14th spot. He also recently cracked the top-100 on the Official World Golf Ranking and is currently ten spots from overtaking Russell Knox as the top-ranked player from the home of golf. 

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Should he keep this up, he’ll need to get used to rubbing shoulders with A-list company. Just not this week.

“I’m here to play golf,” said the Oban ace. “It’s obviously nice to have these stars around but I’m focused on my job.

“Being in contention to win the Race to Dubai is the goal. Obviously, we want to get as high up as possible going into the final few events, but I’ve got a few things that I need to sort out before then and hopefully come the final event I can be knocking on the door.”

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MacIntyre, 23, has had a meteoric rise since turning professional just over two years ago and particularly since earning his European Tour card through the Challenge Tour rankings last season. Consequently, he’s had to reassess his goals as the campaign has gone on.

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“It’s been a quick year,”  he said. “At the start, I was just trying to keep my card and then after the British Masters [where he finished second] you sit back and go well, now I need to push on and try to win. Going from just trying to keep your card to trying to win on the European Tour is a drastic move, but I’m enjoying myself.

“I’ve not reflected too much, which is probably a good thing. We just keep going. You’re turning up trying to win at the end of the day, but we just try to enjoy ourselves, especially this week on home soil and this kind of format.

Want more Bob?

MacIntyre is the cover star for the latest edition of bunkered, issue 174, which is on-sale now from all good newsagents and stockists.

Bunk 174 Cover

author headshot

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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