Battling Bob MacIntyre finishes opening round in US Open in style at Shinnecock Hills

The Oban man was among 50 players who returned to the Long Island venue early on Friday morning to complete their first circuit after a two-hour fog delay on Thursday.

MacIntyre had been three over standing on the 11th tee before digging deep to get back to one over with three holes to play when the action was stopped at 8.25pm due to darkness.

On the resumption at 6.35am on Friday, the Oban man parred both the 16th and 17th holes before signing off with a birdie at the par-4 18th, where he wasn’t far away from holing out with his approach from 153 yards.

It meant he signed for a level-par 70, which he’d be delighted about as he faced a short break before heading out in his second round at 8.18am local time.

The battling effort left MacIntyre sitting joint-18th at the end of the first round, with 2023 winner Wyndham Clark posting a 64 to lead by two shots from Dustin Johnson and three from Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland as former champions dominated the top of the leaderboard.

After being forced to wait until just before 4pm local time to get underway on Thursday, the Oban man headed out knowing that he wouldn’t be finishing his opening circuit.Bob MacIntyre, last year’s runner-up, displayed his renowned battling qualities to stop playing himself out of the 126th US Open on the opening day at Shinnecock Hills.

After being forced to wait until just before 4pm local time to get underway following a two-hour fog delay at the Long Island course, the Oban man headed out knowing that he wouldn’t be finishing his opening circuit.

MacIntyre was cheered on the first tee by a sizeable number of his compatriots, many of whom are over here for the World Cup. “It felt like half of Scotland was there,” declared Andrew Redington, a Getty Images photographer.

Playing in the same group as Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolai Hojgaard and Colombian Nico Echavvaria, the Oban man was unable to convert a great birdie opportunity from around six feet at the first.

He then made amends for that by rolling in a birdie putt from off the green at the par-4 third only to find himself on the back foot following a double-bogey 6 at the next hole.

As it seemed the testing wind had suddenly stiffened, MacIntyre had slipped to three over with eight holes to play after spilling shots at both the seventh and tenth.

It was time to dig deep and, to his credit, the left-hander did so. He rolled in a seven-footer for a birdie-2 at the 11th before knocking in an even birdie putt at the 13th.

His momentum was then halted by a bogey at the 14th, but, boy, was his response to that setback impressive as a 25-footer was sent into the centre of the hole for a fourth birdie of the day at the par-4 15th.

‘Hopefully I can sit back and watch the football’

When play was suspended for the day due to darkness at 8.25pm, MacIntyre, sitting joint-29th on one under, was on the par-5 16th and will be delighted to be tackling that 620-yard monster in slightly easier conditions when the action resumes at 6.35am on Friday.

With the second-round times having been put back by 15 minutes, MacIntyre will now head out at 8.18am but that still gives him plenty of time to get finished before Scotland kick off against Morocco in their second World Cup Group C game in Boston.

“Hopefully I can sit back and watch the football,” MacIntyre told The Scotsman earlier in the week, though he was prepared to have to be given updates if his tee times hadn’t been favourable.

“We’ve had some big shinty games over the years,” he admitted, smiling. “I remember my dad being at a tournament - I think it might have been The Open - and Oban Celtic were involved in either a cup final or a relegation battle.

“I was walking down holes and he’s shouting over the score. I’d have had that here, but it is nice that won’t have to be the case.”