People’s choice Robert MacIntyre chasing legends at Genesis Scottish Open

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – There’s always someone with a bigger helicopter pad.

Such is the plight of Robert MacIntyre (third-round 63), who last year lost the Genesis Scottish Open to Rory McIlroy and this year trails Ludvig Åberg (65) by two going into the final round at The Renaissance Club on Sunday.

Oh, there are others who could still win this thing. Adam Scott shot 64 and is only three back, while Sahith Theegala (66) and Collin Morikawa (66) are among a quartet of golfers at 13 under, four off the lead. But to get the story of this tournament over the last two years, look to the last pairing Sunday, MacIntyre and Åberg – one guy who seems to be doing everything necessary to win, and the other guy whose talent will not be denied.

“I've not been shy in saying it: The (Genesis) Scottish Open is the one I want,” MacIntyre said. “It's not going to change tomorrow. I'm in that position. I've been doing good things. I've been playing well. Not just this week but for the previous kind of eight weeks, I feel like my game has been in good shape. Tomorrow is just another round of golf, and I've just got to control me and if I do that well, then I'm going to be in with a chance.”

To turn that chance into a trophy, he will have to wrest it from the sure hands of another player whose skills are freakish even in the rarified air of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour.

If it were up to the fans, we wouldn’t even have to play the final round. MacIntyre, who went 4 under for his first five holes Saturday, couldn’t be any more beloved around here if he were running the haggis concession and giving out free plaid hats. But his situation recalls a story about the old TV show “Mad Men.” The actor John Slattery wanted to read for Don Draper, the lead role, but was told that the show had already cast that guy. Slattery was disappointed.

“Eventually I saw (Jon Hamm),” Slattery said, “and I was like…‘Oh—they sure do have that guy.’”

Robert MacIntyre of Oban, on Scotland’s west coast, who has two DP World Tour titles and one PGA TOUR title to his name, is a huge talent but would be the first to tell you he’s not that guy and never will be.

At the Genesis Scottish Open last year that guy was McIlroy, whose 2-iron into the wind to set up birdie at the last was just as outrageous as MacIntyre’s earlier 3-wood into the wind to set up birdie. This year that guy is world No. 4 Åberg, who finished atop the 2023 PGA TOUR University ranking and has since won on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour.

Åberg also went 2-2 at the Ryder Cup in Rome, where he teamed with Viktor Hovland to thump Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler by a record 9-and-7 margin and served notice that he’s going to be a problem for the U.S. for years.

MacIntyre was on that team, too, going 2-0-1 and leaning on veteran partner Justin Rose, who all but legally adopted the lefthander, for two Four-ball wins. MacIntyre later accepted PGA TOUR membership by virtue of finishing in the top 10 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings. And, last month, he won the RBC Canadian Open.

“Bob is a character,” Åberg said of his closest pursuer at The Renaissance Club. “He’s a lot of fun to be around and a tremendous golfer. I hadn’t been around him at all before Rome. We got to spend some time together.

“…We’ve all seen how he plays with his heart on his sleeve, and I think that’s very cool,” Åberg continued. “It’s needed in a situation like the Ryder Cup and it’s going to be needed tomorrow as well.”

As we’ve seen this year, nothing is guaranteed in golf. Åberg’s two-shot lead could vanish in an instant, especially if the wind blows. With a stiff breeze in his face, his heart on his sleeve and the crowd all but carrying him on their shoulders, MacIntyre could yet atone for last year and walk away with the trophy he wants more than any other, save for a major.

He would like that very much, and he wouldn’t be shy in saying it.