Sepp Straka reveals Robert MacIntyre’s classy gesture to Ryder Cup teammates

People like to remark on what a ‘nice young man’ Robert MacIntyre is. 

And here’s the proof.

Ahead of this week’s Open Championship, the Genesis Scottish Open champion – twice a winner on the PGA Tour – left a little gift inside the lockers of his Ryder Cup teammates.

Each member of the European team that conquered Rome last summer arrived at Royal Troon to find a bottle of Oban whisky and a Harris Tweed bag waiting for them, courtesy of 27-year-old MacIntyre and his girlfriend Shannon.

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Speaking after completing his second round, Sepp Straka – who, like MacIntyre, made his Ryder Cup debut in Rome last year – detailed the Scot’s classy gesture.

“He left us those gifts with a little note, which was really nice of him,” said Straka. “He’s obviously from Oban so, yeah, he left us a nice little bottle of Scotch and I love Scotch so it worked out nicely for me.”

MacIntyre got his Open bid off to a solid start on Thursday, carding a one-over 72 to lie seven shots off the early pace set by surprise leader Daniel Brown.

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Afterwards, he described his first round as “almost perfect”.

“The putter didn’t turn up today,” he conceded. “but I thought tee to green was absolutely superb, especially that front nine, wind in out of the right. It wasn’t comfortable at all.

“It’s just about getting my chance going into Sunday. It’s not ‘can he win it today’, ‘can he win it Friday’, ‘can he win it Saturday’. But you can play yourself out of it. I thought a one-over-par score today was a good round of golf, and we’re still in it.”

Michael McEwan is bunkered's Head of Content 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.

Head of Content