Robert MacIntyre may be one of golf's fastest rising stars but he is delighted that home comforts can keep his feet firmly on the ground.
In four short years, the likeable Scot has turned professional, graduated from the European Challenge Tour, secured a top ten finish at The Open Championship, won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award and claimed his maiden European Tour title.
After an impressive Desert Swing to start the 2021 Race to Dubai, he cracked the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and earned himself a debut at the Masters Tournament.
He headed to the United States where he not only finished in the top 12 to earn a return to Augusta National, but also made it to the last 16 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, advancing from a group containing World Number One Dustin Johnson.
But after all the deserved attention that came with that, MacIntyre is delighted to be back on British soil for the 2021 British Masters hosted by Danny Willett, albeit nearly 400 miles from his native Oban.
"It's brilliant," he said. "My mum brings me back down to earth with a bang every time I go home. It will never change. I get treated the same way my sisters get treated.
"There's no special treatment, same with my pals. They will treat me as if I'm sitting at home in Oban, the chat will be the same.
"I try and live the life of a 24-year-old guy, not the life of someone that's trying to achieve great things in the game of golf. I try and be normal, as hard as it can be at times.
"Obviously there are things I have to sacrifice, but I still enjoy life with my pals, pick up a shinty stick now and again and be myself, that's the way I'll always be.
"I struggle sometimes when there's a lot of attention here and there, I'm quiet person and try and let the golf do the talking. When I'm not on a golf course I try and stay hidden, stay quiet - it can be difficult at times but it's the job I've gotten myself into, it's the lifestyle that I've dreamed of as a kid."
MacIntyre made his first big impression on the European Tour when he finished second at this event in 2019 at Hillside Golf Club, and would go on to finish second two more times en route to finishing 11th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
I am here to do a job and here to win a golf tournament if possible. Only one man can do that, so it is about committing to every golf shot that I can and mainly enjoying myself. That is a huge part of it for me
But he revealed he started to feel at home on Tour right away after he was paired with South African great Ernie Els in just his third start of his rookie season.
"There were a lot of things that happened that year that made me comfortable," he said.
"Played with Ernie the third or fourth event in, he almost welcomed me onto the Tour. To have guys like that almost as a mate was huge. Every time I walked onto the range he would stop and speak no matter what he was doing.
"Obviously setting me up to play with Tommy (Fleetwood) at the British Masters - I performed on the Sunday and it gave me belief I could compete with the best, Tommy's one of the best players in the world, so doing it in his event when he was hosting.
"That was the first time I'd really played in front of a big crowd - the buzz you get is what you dream of as a kid, it just puts you in the right place. For me it's all the confidence and belief you get from those events and performances.
Early practice for @robert1lefty ⏰
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 11, 2021
His approach into 18 @TheBelfryHotel.#BetfredBritishMasters pic.twitter.com/zexwmiSMm6
"It just snowballs and if you can keep doing that, who knows what can happen."
While MacIntyre's rapid rise has started talk of a Ryder Cup debut in the autumn, the 24-year-old is putting no pressure on himself to make Padraig Harrington's team or even win this week.
The Belfry will always be synonymous with the Ryder Cup but MacIntyre, who only played the layout for the first time on Monday, insists he will just take everything as it comes.
"I’m not really sure what is going to happen this week," he said. "I have taken a few weeks off and I try and keep the expectations down as much as I can, I try and keep it as low key as possible, so why change?
"I am here to do a job and here to win a golf tournament if possible. Only one man can do that, so it is about committing to every golf shot that I can and mainly enjoying myself. That is a huge part of it for me."
