Bob MacIntyre 'fed up' and 'fizzing' after BMW PGA rollercoaster round

Playing with Swedish pair Alex Noren and Ludvig Aberg, MacIntyre started the day on four under, having finished birdie-birdie in Thursday’s opening circuit in the $9 million Rolex Series event, before quickly finding himself back to level par after just four holes on the West Course at Wentworth.

A dropped shot at the par-3 10th - he began on the ninth with a two-tee start in operation - was followed by a double-bogey 6 at the 11th then taking another 6 at the par-5 12th. To say he was raging at that stage would be an understatement and, earlier in his career, MacIntyre would almost certainly have missed the cut in that state of mind.

That he didn’t on this occasion was partly down to him having become better at coping with moments of adversity but, even more so, it was down to pure luck. His thinned bunker shot from a plugged lie at the 12th would have ended up out of bounds if it hadn’t hit a cameraman. The Scottish No 1 then holed out with a 7-iron from 190 yards for an eagle-2 at the 15th and the look on his face and a shake of the head in response to that said it all.

In between all of that drama, he’d seen a birdie putt at the 13th go more than 360 degrees around the hole before toppling in and, though there was certainly nothing lucky about a majestic approach from 247 yards with a utility club that set up a second eagle in three holes at the par-5 17th, boy was it a colourful card for what is the back nine here. By the end, his day’s work added up to a level-par 72, yet it was a classic tale of a basic scorecard not telling the full story. “I probably had the unluckiest stretch of a few holes and then the luckiest stretch of a few holes,” he admitted.

Recalling the early part of the round, he added: “I didn’t even hit a bad tee shot on the 11th, but it took a horrid bounce and I had to take an unplayable. My next shot then plugged in the bunker, where I didn’t think there was enough sand for that to be possible and I bladed it through the green and then played an unbelievable flop shot to make what was a good double bogey.

“The par-5 12th was a shocker. I was in perfect position in the middle of the fairway and was trying to hit it pin high but came up 20 yards short of where I was trying to get it and it was plugged again. It was dead and I got lucky with my thin out of there as it hit a cameraman on the leg and stayed in bounds.

“I then got the luckiest break when my 7-iron went in the hole at the 15th then made the second eagle on 17. The big thing for me is making sure I am in the golf tournament when these magical things happen and today I wasn’t. Today I’m out of the golf tournament after the start to being somewhat back in the golf tournament.”

With American Ryan Gerard leading by two shots on 12 under, MacIntyre sits eight back and admitted it felt a case of deja vu from last week’s Amgen Irish Open, where he was three under through ten holes in tough first-day conditions at Doonbeg before having to settle for a two-over par 72 then eventually end up in a tie for 14th.

“I’m getting fed up,” admitted MacIntyre, who is never scared to say what he is thinking. “It was the same last week. I was in a good position and then had three or four holes of absolute disaster and then I am just jockeying for the middle of the pack.

“Yeah, if I am being honest, it was just luck that I turned it around today. After going from four under to level par, your back is against the wall. Obviously the second shot on 17 made things easier and I couldn’t believe when I was standing over the putt there that I had a chance to go under par for the day.”

In contrast, the eight holes thereafter were a bit boring, his only deviation from par being a bogey at the par-3 fifth. “Yeah, poor round of golf, just pretty simple,” he declared. “Yeah, I'm actually fizzing right now but I have two days to fix it. Just try and find some positives because I’m making too many mistakes.”

David Law, who is battling to hang on to his DP World Tour card, is also on four under heading into the weekend, delighting his onlooking mum and dad Teresa and Dave by signing off with a birdie at the 18th, where, resisting the temptation to have a bash at the green, he laid up in two before producing a classy low pitch under the wind, for a 71.

“Yeah, as we were coming down the last there, Harry [Bird, his caddie] asked me ‘have you enjoyed your back nine at Wentworth on Friday?’ and I said ‘not very much, no’,” admitted Law, smiling. “There are a lot of Race to Dubai points on offer in a week like this and, first and foremost, you’ve got to make the cut. Now a big weekend for me could make a huge difference. I’ve done it here in the past when I was in a similar situation in 2021 and had a solid weekend (shooting 68-66 to finish T14).”

On the back of his top-ten finish in the Irish Open, Ewen Ferguson is also through to the weekend on three under but Nexo champion Scott Jamieson agonisingly missed out by a shot as the cut fell on two under, with Connor Syme (two over) and Grant Forrest (three over) also making early exits while Calum Hill, who was two over at the time, retired due to an injury after 15 holes.