MacIntyre ready to contend again after break

Robert MacIntyre was feeling refreshed and raring to go as he prepared to tee it up at the event that convinced him he could make it as a professional golfer.

Then a 17-year-old amateur, he played alongside Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva in the team event at the 2013 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and he returns eight years later as one of golf's rising stars.

The likeable Scot was crowned the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2019 and claimed his maiden European Tour title the following season.

Such has been his rise, that European Captain Pádraig Harrington felt he owed him a phone call when he was not selected for the Ryder Cup team, and it was this week in 2013 that showed MacIntyre all that was possible.

"That was pretty much the time that I realised I could play at this level," he said. "I played with Eduardo de la Riva and we still laugh about it every time we cross paths.

"That really opened my eyes to the world of golf. I thought, 'I could do this for a living', and here we are now.

"It was great fun and he had done well that year in The Open. I think he finished top 15 in The Open that year. So he knew what he was doing on links golf and it helped me out."

MacIntyre's last result was a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship which came off the back of two missed cuts in the United States.

The 25-year-old decided to take a break after his performance at Wentworth Golf Club and, after spending some time at home seeing friends and family and playing shinty, he now feels ready to get back to action.

"I've just played so much golf," he said. "So we decided to take the break. I love going home. 

"Back home is where it's at for me, and friends, family, and obviously shinty, everyone knows that I've been playing shinty for a few years.

"The clubs stayed in the travel case that they went back from Wentworth in for about a week. I just went to spend time with family and friends. 

"I've been travelling the world for the last 12 weeks, 15 weeks, I feel that I've hardly seen family and friends and just to finally get home and have time to actually spend it with them...

"That was really the only way I was going to do it and now I'm feeling as ready as I can be for the week."