Bob MacIntyre’s jaunt down under got off to a slightly disappointing start with a tie for 33rd place in the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship last weekend.
He knew a strong showing in Brisbane would help him close in on a place in the word’s top 50 and the Oban man got off to a decent start on Thursday, posting a solid two under par 69 to stay within touching distance of the leaders.
Unfortunately, back-to-back level par 71’s on Friday and Saturday saw him slip further away from the business end of the leaderboard.
On Sunday the left-hander did make a late surge through the field, going out in 32 before a double bogey at the start of his back 9 disrupted his momentum.
MacIntyre would eventually sign for a 68, which was his best score of the week and a timely boost to his confidence.
This as he prepares to move on to Sydney for the second leg of his Australian adventure, teeing off on Thursday at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.
Earlier in the week the 27-year old revealed more details of his forthcoming move to tje United States.
Having secured one of ten coveted PGA tour cards through his sterling performances in 2023, Bob will make his 2024 US debut in the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 11.
Confirming his plans, MacIntyre said: “It will be Hawaii at the start of next year. There’s so much going on, we’ve organised so much leading up to last week, that come Sunday, once it was confirmed, it was just ‘get these documents signed’.”
Bob has also decided to really go for it in the States, confirming that it could be as late as July before we see him tee off again on this side of the Atlantic.
He said: “Potentially it will be the Scottish Open, probably. It’s so hard. Only the best players in the world can juggle two tours and with everything going on in the PGA tour when you’re first starting out, you’ve obviously got to go all in.”
Before heading across the pond for glamorous Hawaii next year, the young Scot is acutely aware of an area of his game that needs to sharpen up.
He is currently not happy with his wedge play, describing it as “abysmal” and adding: “It’s such small gains and I feel that 110 to 150 yards is where I’ll make the most gains. If I can sort that out I’ll be fine.”
The Ryder Cup star will hope all that wedge practice will pay off in Sydney this week and he is able to build on his promising final round in Brisbane, making a significant move towards cracking the world’s top 50.