Robert MacIntyre used all his links experience to card a brilliant 65 on day three of The 2021 Open Championship as he aims for his best Major finish at Royal St George's Golf Club.
The Scot made his Major debut at The Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush, finishing in a tie for sixth, and he has made the cut in all six of his Major appearances since.
The wind has been kind to the players on the English coast this week but with high temperatures making the course firmer and faster as the event has gone on, round three presented the most quintessentially links challenge yet.
Not that that was a problem for MacIntyre, who holed a monster from off the green at the last in a birdie birdie finish to catapult himself up the leaderboard.
“Obviously it was a bonus there at 18," he said. "You are not expecting to hole that, you are just trying to get down in two.
Today was the foot on the gas again and it paid off
“I criticise myself as much as anyone will. I know when my game is good and I came away from last week knowing that my game is good.
“I just didn’t feel I got anything out of last week and it was the same the first two days here. Yes, I managed to get something out of it by making the cut but I felt I had left something behind. Today was the foot on the gas again and it paid off.
"Hopefully I can just keep doing what I'm doing, keep hitting it the way I'm hitting it and keep seeing the putts going in, and hopefully we can get a high finish."
As well as Major ambitions, MacIntyre is also eyeing a Ryder Cup debut in September and he knows this week could help him on his way to Whistling Straits.
“I’ve got a lot to gain just now," he said. "There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that everyone knows about.
Moving day 65 and into the top 20 ✍️
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 17, 2021
That round will be tough to beat today. #TheOpen | @Workday pic.twitter.com/3mp5fpyH8w
“I know fine well what a good performance here will do. Just keep playing free golf and keep seeing the putts go in and we’ll be all right.
“I am fully comfortable. This is where I want to play golf. Every time I want to be competing against the best and you can only be the best if you are competing against them and beating them.
“I know what already is really good, I know where I need to improve and it’s just about keeping on moving forward and not looking back and see what has gone wrong or whatever.
“I want to keep looking forward and how we can get better. If I can keep improving little bits here and there, we’ll do that.”
