Robert MacIntyre Secures First PGA Tour Win in RBC Canadian Open
Robert MacIntyre's triumph at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday was a significant moment in his career. Despite a challenging final stretch, he managed to secure a one-stroke victory over Ben Griffin, marking his first-ever win on the PGA Tour. The 27-year-old from Oban, United Kingdom, put himself in a picture-perfect position heading into Sunday after shooting an opening round 64, followed up by back-to-back rounds of 66. He also went bogey-free for the first two rounds, but Sunday came with some adversity.
MacIntyre started off Sunday slow as he bogeyed the first hole of the day, and before he knew it, Mackenzie Hughes was on his tail as the Canadien birdied three of his first four holes to grab a share of the lead early on. MacIntyre also had Griffin to worry about who was coming off back-to-back rounds of 65 on Friday and Saturday. Griffin played bogey-free golf for his whole round on Sunday, but with only five birdies, he would come up just short. MacIntyre was able to respond to the pressure being put on by Griffin and Hughes, as well as the tough bogey on the first hole, by making birdies on three of the last eight holes to finish the front nine. Another variable that fell in MacIntyre’s favor was that Hughes slowed down significantly after his blazing-hot start. After Hughes grabbed a share of the lead on the fourth hole, he bogeyed the fifth hole, birdied the sixth hole, and bogeyed the ninth hole to put him just two under par for the front nine. Then, Hughes would fail to make a birdie on the back nine to go along with back-to-back bogies on 13 and 14 to officially put him out of contention.
With Hughes fainting away, all that stood in the way of MacIntyre and his first PGA Tour win was himself. With a four-shot lead over Griffin entering the day, he just had to play solid golf on the back nine to win, and that is exactly what he did. He had two birdies and two bogies on the back nine to shoot even par over those nine holes and two under par for the whole round. As MacIntyre approached the 18th green, the emotions of realizing what he was about to accomplish began to overwhelm him. What made this win even more sweet was the fact that his father, Dougie, was his caddie for the event. MacIntyre has changed caddies several times during his first year as a full-time PGA Tour player, but yet it was his father that was the one to get him over the hump. They shared an emotional embrace after MacIntyre made the final par putt to solidify the victory. This was the fourth professional win for MacIntyre, who has won twice on the European Tour and once on the MENA Tour.
