Glencruitten’s Bob MacIntyre capped a stunning Masters debut with a birdie on the 18th to ensure that he will return to Augusta in 2022.
The 24-year-old from Oban finished tied 12th on -2 for the week after carding a level-par 72 on the final day. It was another thrilling round in which he showed his fighting spirit once again towards the end, recovering from back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th to hole a 13ft birdie putt on one of the most famous greens in golf.

“This is a place where you want to be competing every year,” MacIntyre said afterwards. “It was my first time this year, and I obviously put up a decent fight, but once you come here, you don’t want to miss another one.
“I’m not missing next year for anything. I’ve played some great golf over the last week, and I feel like my game suits this golf course. The way I play golf suits the way this golf course wants you to play golf. I’m just over the moon to finish the way I finished.”

MacIntyre now stands at No 44 in the world rankings and is effectively now guaranteed a spot at the PGA Championship next month and at the US Open in June. His American road trip continues this week on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Asked by a journalist how the reality of Augusta compared to the dream as a youngster, MacIntyre replied: It’s even better. You love a dream and you hope for it, but when you’re here now, it’s different.

“The buzz you get when I’ve holed that putt and then I’ve gone in and seen the scores and where I finished, it’s just everything you want as a kid, and we’ve done it.”

Bob MacIntyre will become the 27th Scottish golfer in history – and the first from Glencruitten – to compete in the Masters at Augusta next week after retaining his place inside the world’s top-50.
A thrilling run to the last-16 of the WGC Matchplay in Austin, Texas, helped the 24-year-old from Oban remain at No 44 and secure an invite to one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world.
MacIntyre will be full of confidence after the best performance so far of his American trip. He progressed to the knockout stages from a group that included the world No 1 Dustin Johnson and hit the shot of the week with an incredible 371-yard drive to less than three feet on the par-4 18th.
“Would have been good to go a couple more rounds but it was a brilliant week at #DellMatchplay and thanks to everyone as always for all the support,” MacIntyre tweeted on Sunday. “The American road trip continues.”
MacIntyre is one of three Scots in the field at Augusta, alongside PGA Tour regular Martin Laird and the 1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle. The tournament begins on April 8 and every shot of MacIntyre’s can be watched live online on the Masters website.
The 8.88 ranking points that MacIntyre earned last week in Austin will also likely be enough to earn him a place in the next two majors. He has already effectively qualified for the US PGA Championship as he will not drop outside the top-100 before then, and he would have to be very unlucky with other results not to be in the top-60 for the first US Open cut-off on May 24.
MacIntyre’s place at this summer’s Open at Royal St George’s in Kent was already secured long ago when he finished tied for sixth on his debut at Royal Portrush in 2019.

Glencruitten Golf Club’s Robert MacIntyre produced some moments of magic to make a successful debut in his first group match at the WGC Matchplay in Austin, Texas on Wednesday.

In a tight and entertaining battle against Kevin Na, the world No 30 from the United States, MacIntyre was one down after 12 holes before a stunning turnaround. The 24-year-old from Oban holed an 86ft chip out of the rough for eagle on the par-4 13th and then moved two up on the par-5 16th with a 41ft shot out of the greenside bunker for another eagle. A 2&1 victory was secured on the 17th.

“I must say it was one of the best matches I’ve been involved in,” MacIntyre said. “Both of us were playing really well and weren’t giving an edge. The last five holes we both started going crazy. I chip in when he’s knocked it in tight, and it just kind of fed from that. The confidence was there in my game all day, I just continued to just commit to the shot and it paid off at the end.”

MacIntyre now faces a tantalising showdown against the world No 1 Dustin Johnson at 6:32pm UK time on Thursday as he bids to move closer to securing progression to the last-16 as the winner of Group 1. He is also on the brink of sealing his invite to next month’s Masters at Augusta as it appears increasingly unlikely that he will drop outside of the world’s top-50 on Monday from his present position of No 44.

“I’ve played the last three weeks and I’ve not played well,” MacIntyre said. “We worked hard the last week at Sawgrass. We stayed there for a week, we put in a lot of good work, and we came here and we done the exact same. We’ve played a lot of holes already this week just to get comfortable with what we’re working on.

“Today [against Na] it showed that I’m really starting to trust what I’m doing and I’m starting to see shots and hit the shots that I’m trying to hit. That’s huge when you’re trying to play match play and trust what you’re doing. Even if you get behind, you’ve got to keep trusting it. I am just looking forward to seeing what happens [against Johnson] tomorrow.”