Bob MacIntyre had four days to forget in South Africa as his chase for a place in the world’s top 50 golfers took a serious dent.
The Glencruitten man finished 25 shots off the lead following an erratic four rounds in Sun City where he struggled to find a foothold in his pursuit of the Nedbank Golf Challenge title.
His final round included six birdies – including four on the trot – two double bogies, three bogies and seven pars. Those 18 holes were indicative of his first three days as a mixture of wonderful and wild shots resulted in scorecards that ended with a confetti of red and black.
Bob carded 17 bogies and three doubles over his four rounds at the Nedbank. His final round of +1 tied him for 58th place in the 66-man field. Overall, it was a week to forget as the 27-year-old looks to put it to one side and move on to the final event of the 2023 season in Dubai.
Bob moves down to 11th in the Race to Dubai rankings after his disappointing week and now holds 7th position in the PGA Tour card qualification pursuit.
Finishing in the top ten of that race is key to his plans for next year as he looks to open up his schedule and qualify to play in the most lucrative tournaments on both sides of the Atlantic.
To bolster his bid for a place in the world’s top 50, which brings with it automatic qualification for the four Majors, Bob has joined the star-studded fields for the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
He said: “I’ve always loved Australia and have family there, so I’m really looking forward to a fortnight playing in Brisbane and Sydney.
“The Australian PGA and Australian Open are two tournaments with great history and I’d love to be up there in both. There’s been some great examples in the past of players winning in Australia then going on to big things the following year.”
The Fortinet Australian PGA Championship will be played at Royal Queensland on November 23-26 and ISPS HANDA Australian Open at The Australian and The Lakes from November 30-December 3. Both are co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour.
Before those, Bob will tee up at the DP World Tour Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course in Dubai on Thursday, looking for an improved showing that secures his top 50 place and his PGA Tour Card.