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Bob MacIntyre is ready to banish last week’s frustrations in the best possible manner as he attempts to become Scotland’s first major winner of the Millennium.
The 28-year-old was left glowering last weekend when his attempt to win back-to-back Scottish Opens fell away.
However, he felt rejuvenated after arriving in Northern Ireland on Tuesday and playing 18 holes at Royal Portrush ahead of The Open.
Paul Lawrie was the last Scot to get his hands on the Claret Jug, at Carnoustie in 1999, but plenty believe MacIntyre’s game is good enough to change that statistic at a course he rates as one of his favourites.
MacIntyre, who finished 17 shots off the pace in North Berwick, said: ‘We picked Sunday apart after the round. Once I’d spoken to the media and had actually calmed down and was thinking clear, it was almost like there was a learning curve.
‘Then we spoke to people yesterday about how we can be ahead of the game before it happens. What happened last week isn’t going to happen. We’ve had some rain, the ground isn’t brick hard. It’s greener already on the range. I’m seeing the strike off the face.
Robert MacIntyre says he's ready to put his poor defence of Scottish Open behind him
The left-hander feels like he's back in the swing again ahead of The Open at Portrush
MacIntyre gets reacquainted with the Royal Portrush course where he made his Open debut
‘I’m seeing the ball flight up in the sky. So a completely different week this week. I still feel like I’ve got no real care. People may have picked me to win but, to be honest, there are so many guys this week that can win this tournament.
‘I’m going to go out there and enjoy playing Royal Portrush again and give it my absolute best, and that’s all I can guarantee. When things go wrong, I’m pretty good at telling everyone to give me an hour. I can go as mental as I want for an hour. After that, I just get back to life.’
