Ex-McNeese golfer wins with dad’s help
Published 8:37 pm Sunday, June 2, 2024
- (Photo PGA.com) Ex-McNeese golfer Robert MacIntyre won for the first time on PGA Tour Sunday.
McNeese State no longer has a golf program, as it was a casualty of COVID.
Yet the program’s legacy lives on.
Sunday in Hamilton, Ontario, Robert MacIntyre made Cowboy golf history. The lefty from Scotland and former McNeese golfer became the second Cowboy to win a PGA Tour event.
MacIntyre, a rookie, won the RBC Canadian Open at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club. And he did it with his dad serving as his emergency caddie.
“To be honest, I was just coming here to play a golf tournament,” MacIntyre said. “There was no expectation, there was a lot going on with visas and stuff during the week and to win it with him on the bag is just — to be honest, I still can’t believe that it happened.
“It is a dream come true and I can’t believe it happened with him on my bag.”
MacIntyre joins Derek Lamely as the only Cowboys to have ever won on the tour. Lamely captured the 2010 Puerto Rico Open.
MacIntyre earned a cool $1.692 million for his weekend’s work. He will, of course, have to split that with his father Dougie, which the 27-year-old was especially happy to do.
“Everything I have done was with the support of my family,” said MacIntyre. “The game of golf was passed down by generations from my dad. He taught me the game of golf.”
MacIntyre played golf at McNeese State from 2014-16. He was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2015.
He has won twice on the DP World Tour and was a member of the winning European Ryder Cup team in Rome.
MacIntyre shot a 16-under 264 to beat Ben Griffin by one stroke for the victory, finishing with a flurry. His eagle-3 on the seventh hole Sunday was the biggest hole. He parred the final hole for the win.
Macintyre, who shot a 4-under 68 over the final 18 holes, was 5-under-par over the last five holes to bounce back from his toughest day of the tourney. He started with a 64 before posting back-to-back 66s during rounds two and three.
The victory allows MacIntyre to get some rest. He was expecting to play 36 holes on Monday to try and qualify for the upcoming U.S. Open. Now he will be giving an invitation having won his way in.
