Sore Bob MacIntyre flies out Fife-based physio to US as he races to make megabucks PGA finale

The call to Barton, who has treated MacIntyre in the past, was made after the Oban man had been forced to withdraw in the BMW Championship in Denver following nine holes in Saturday’s third round due to a back injury. “Two drives before he teed off on Saturday, it went pop,” said Iain Stoddart, MacIntyre’s manager, who is out in the States with MacIntyre for the FedEx Cup Play-Offs. “He gave it nine holes and a physio walked with him but couldn't carry on.”

As a result of being unable to complete the $20 million event, won by US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley at Castle Pines Golf Club, MacIntyre dropped eight spots to 20th in the FedEx Cup Standings. The top 30 now tee up in the season finale at East Lake this week and MacIntyre will be hoping Barton, one of the top physiotherapists in the business, can work his magic to allow him to not just be teeing up on Thursday but feeling he is able to get in the mix at the weekend.

“He is sore just now,” added Stoddart, speaking to The Scotsman on Sunday, “but we've flown out Stuart, who gets here tonight and gets a few days to try and get him right for Thursday. He'll ultimately be fine, just hopefully in time for Thursday.”

One of the occasions MacIntyre was previously treated by Barton was for a back strain that cut short his Italian Open title defence in 2023 before returning to Marco Simone Golf Club on the outskirts of Rome later that year to help Europe retain the Ryder Cup. Eight-time European No 1 Colin Montgomerie was treated in the past by Anstruther-based Barton on the strength of a recommendation from Scottish rugby legend Gavin Hastings, with David Drysdale and Calum Hill among the other golfers to have been “fixed” by him.

Speaking during the BMW International Open in Munich last summer of how he’d been sorted out by Barton after his back had seized, Hill said: “Barty kind of realigned me. He’s renowned for doing a proper job.”

On the back of a brilliant season that has produced wins in both the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open, MacIntyre will join Ryder Cup team-mates Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland Tommy Fleetwood and Sepp Straka in this week’s field. Two other Europeans – Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Englishman Aaron Rai – have also made it to East Lake, where world No 1 Scottie Scheffler heads into the event in top spot in the standings ahead of Open champion Xander Schauffele.