Robert Macintyre is hoping to emulate Paul Lawrie’s 1999 win at Carnoustie and become only the second Scotsman since 1910 to win The Open on home soil.
This week the 2024 men’s major championship calendar comes to a close at Royal Troon for The Open.
Scottie Scheffler comes into the tournament vying to add a second major to his trophy haul this season, while Rory McIlroy hopes to bounce back from his heartbreak at the US Open. Defending champion Brian Harman is winless so far this year, but heads to Scotland in decent form with five top-30 finishes in his last six starts.
The last time Troon hosted The Open, it laid the scene for one of the most dramatic final rounds in history. Phil Mickelson went toe toe-to-toe with Henrik Stenson for a birdie-filled 18 holes, and although the American would come up short by three strokes, he finished 11 shots ahead of third place.
Robert MacIntyre aiming for victory at The Open 2024
This Open will have been in Robert MacIntyre’s sights since its venue was announced three and a half years ago. Royal Troon is less than a three-hour drive from his home of Oban on the West Coast and winning in their home nation is something few Scots have ever done.
However, he may not have forecast winning the event just one week before when he was ranked 59th in the world back in December 2020. Winning back-to-back tournaments is a rarity in golf, but the now world number 16 will be confident following his win at the Genesis Scottish Open last Sunday. MacIntyre will hope to become just the second Scotsman in over 100 years (and only the third since the 1890s) to win The Open on Scotland’s home soil.
It’s been a bumper year for the man from Oban, whose win on Sunday marked just his second PGA Tour win, both of which have come this season. He exceeded expectations in Rome last Autumn too, at a course where he won 2022, finishing the Ryder Cup undefeated with two and a half points from a possible three.
While he needs to improve on his best finish of sixth in the final major of the men’s calendar, the bookies have him at shorter odds than past champions Cam Smith, Jordan Spieth, Brian Harman, and Shane Lowry.
Robert MacIntyre to emulate Paul Lawrie’s Open win 25 years on?
25 years ago in July 1999, Paul Lawrie came from ten shots back to beat Frenchman Jean van de Velde at Carnoustie in one of the most astonishing, gut-wrenching major championship conclusions in history. In doing so he became the first Scottish man since James Braid at St Andrews in 1910 to lift the Claret Jug on home turf.
In appalling weather, the largely unheralded van de Velde came out of nowhere to fire himself into the second-round lead with a three-under-par 68. A third-round 70 gave him a lead of five shots heading into Sunday, but a shaky display saw it cut to three shots through 17 holes.
What happened next is arguably the most famous (and difficult to watch) 18th-hole performance in golfing history. The Frenchman carded a triple bogey which took him into a three-way playoff – one that he would not win.
Van de Velde is always remembered as the key figure in that Open, but it was a historic day for the eventual winner Lawrie. The Scot’s final round 67 in brutal conditions was the lowest of the top 10 that day, and he then won the four-hole playoff by three strokes.
Less than a week after the Champion Golfer of the Year is crowned at Royal Troon, the 1999 Open Champion will head back to Carnoustie and attempt to win his first Senior Open Championship.
More good omens for MacIntyre
History could be smiling on MacIntyre too, as the week before Lawrie conquered Carnoustie in 1999 fellow countryman Colin Montgomerie won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. MacIntyre hopes this foreshadows good things to come at Troon, as he attempts to unite both trophies.
The 2023 Ryder Cup winner will draw inspiration from Lawrie’s remarkable comeback, still the largest final-round deficit overcome in The Open, even if the first days of this year’s Championship do not go to plan for him.
MacIntyre will have shorter odds than the 1999 winner going into the week too, given Lawrie was ranked 241 in the world and had to qualify to earn his place at Carnoustie. Football failed to come home last weekend, but golf still might be a week later.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
