Oban’s Bob MacIntyre dropped four shots in just three holes as his pursuit of the Nedbank Golf Challenge stalled before it got started in South Africa earlier today.
The Glencruitten travelled to the glamour tournament with high hopes of following up on recent strong performances and firing himself into the world’s top 50, thus securing an invitation to The Masters in Augusta next year.
But his opening round could not have got off to a worse start as he spluttered to card a five and two sixes at the opening three holes.
The 27-year-old threatened to haul himself back on track with a fine birdie at the fifth, before another bogey at the sixth plunged him into second last place on the leaderboard.
Things didn’t get much better for the Oban man on the back nine, with no birdies and a further string of dropped shots at the 11th, 13th and 17th holes.
Bob carded a six over 78, leaving him 12 shots off the lead. Despite needing a miracle to get back into contention, he will know there are still valuable world ranking points to be had if he can get his game together and repair some of the damage over the next three days.
The Nedbank has a unique format with just 66 players taking part, which means there is no cut. All of the field will compete at the picturesque Gary Player Country Club in Sun City right through until Sunday.
Bob will tee off tomorrow at 9.10am on the tenth alongside Romain Languasque and Hurly Long.