ROBERT MACINTYRE is coming off the best season yet of his golf career.
The 28-year-old Scot claimed his maiden PGA Tour triumph in emotional scenes, winning the Canadian Open in June with his dad as his caddie.
A month later he shot to victory in his homeland, winning the Scottish Open in stunning style at the Renaissance Club.
MacIntyre, who made his Ryder Cup debut in Rome last year and formed a formidable partnership with Justin Rose at Marco Simone, decided to focus on the PGA Tour full-time this season.
He earned his PGA Tour card thanks to his performances on the DP World Tour the previous year but deciding to make 2024 his first full season on golf‘s flagship tour initially looked like a disaster.
He made the cut in his first event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, but he finished in a lowly tie for 52nd.
MacIntyre then failed to make the cut THREE times in a row. A tie for sixth at the MexicoChampionship seemed to only provide a momentary boost, as he finished tied-60th the following week at the Cognizant Classic in Florida.
Things didn’t improve much at all over the next couple of months as MacIntyre missed the cut in three of the five tournaments he entered, including at the prestigious Players Championship.
But a trip back home to Oban in the spring seemed to turn things around and the left-hander was in contention for the win at Myrtle Beach before a final-round slip up.
He then played some of his best golf to claim a top ten finish in the PGA Championship at Valhalla – spectacularly DOUBLING his winnings with one shot on the 18th hole in the process.
But it was two weeks after Valhalla that everything truly changed for MacIntyre as he won the Canadian Open.
The circumstances of that victory couldn’t have been more special, with MacIntyre having to draft in dad Dougie to be an emergency caddie as he didn’t have one at the time.
MacIntyre banked £1.33MILLION for winning the tournament – the largest amount won by a Scottish golfer at a single event in the history of the game.
That pay cheque saw him more than DOUBLE his entire winnings from his previous 15 events on this season’s PGA Tour.
His crowning glory came a month later when he pipped former Masters champion Adam Scott at the Scottish Open.
For that event (co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour) he pocketed a further £1.2m.
Bob MacIntyre: Career highlights
- Claimed his maiden European Tour victory at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown in 2020
- Achieved a remarkable sixth place finish at The Open Championship in 2019 at Royal Portrush on his first-ever appearance
- Honoured with the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award in 2019
- Made his Ryder Cup debut for Team Europe in 2023, helping to beat Team USA
- Won Canadian Open in June 2024 with his dad as caddie
- Lifted the Scottish Open title on home soil in July 2024
- Rose to 15th in the world rankings in August 2024
He made the cut but finished down in a tie for 50th at The Open at RoyalTroon (perhaps feeling the effects of the party he had after winning at Renaissance).
MacIntyre had strong showings at the FedEx St Jude Championship and the season-ending Tour Championship and in the past month has returned to Europe to play in some DP World Tour events.
He followed up a top five finish at the Irish Open with a tie for 12th at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last week, bringing his DP World Tour earnings for the year (excluding the Scottish Open) to £502,747.97.
MacIntyre is taking some time off now before teeing it up at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, in which he will play with his dad at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie in the popular pro-am format.
With his win in Canada, MacIntyre ensured himself entry into next year’s Masters at Augusta and guaranteed him a PGA Tour card through 2027 and he soared to a career-high world ranking of 15th.
His PGA Tour earnings for the year work out to a whopping £4,032,520.74.
That brings his total prize money for the season to £4,535,268.71.
The grand total meant MacIntyre finished 17th on the PGA Tour Money List, ahead of the likes of Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood, 2023 Open champion Brian Harman and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas.
MacIntyre also raked in more prize money than 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and other team mates from Marco Simone including Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka and playing partner Rose.
And, all this DOESN’T include money earned from sponsorship deals or from his personal company, BobMac Golf.
Accounts for BobMac Golf revealed it was worth £3.6m in 2023, leaving MacIntyre with shareholder funds of £3,035,987 once creditors were paid up.
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