On a day of firsts at the Turkish Airlines Challenge, Robert MacIntyre sunk his maiden career albatross en route to a four under par round of 68 which gave him a share of second place.
MacIntyre’s impressive two on the 18thfollowed Marcos Pastor’s first-ever hole-in-one on the third hole earlier in the day.
The 21 year old Scot opened with a bogey on the ninth – his first hole – but steadied the ship with a run of six successive pars.
He sunk a birdie on the 17thto move back to six under before the brilliant albatross arrived on the 18thhole.
MacIntyre had 173 yards to the pin following his tee shot on the 514-yard final hole and hit a nine iron which rolled into the hole after pitching five yards short of the flag.
Two birdies and a bogey on the back nine followed, giving him a share of second place with Minkyu Kim on ten under par.
Reflecting on his round, the Scotsman believes the albatross on the 18thgave him the momentum required to pick up shots on his back nine and close the gap on leader Lorenzo Gagli.
“I didn’t hit it great today but I putted superbly again,” he said. “I knew something was going to change whether it was a long putt or a great second shot into a par four, but I was lucky that it was a great second shot into a par five.
“It moves the momentum so much that you just can’t stop playing well. You keep on rolling and today was just one of those days where things go your way and it’s another good score.
“I just hit a perfect nine iron which pitched about five feet short and ended up going in.
“I wasn’t too sure it was in but once I got up there I realised I’d made a two. It’s the first one of my career so it was very nice to make.”
After securing his first European Challenge Tour top ten at the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open earlier this month, MacIntyre is well-placed to contend again this week and is aiming to take advantage of the scoreable par fives over the next two days.
“There’s only one par five that I can’t really reach with comfort if I hit a good tee shot,” he said
“There’s four that are really reachable so if you hit good shots then you can make eagle or try and make birdie at least.
“All the guys are trying to score at the par fives this week so I’ll try and take advantage of that over the weekend.”
