It was a decent start to The Open Championship for Robert MacIntyre on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Scot posted a round of even-par 71, and he is well in the mix at The Open.
It was a tough day on the links for MacIntyre, but overall, it could have been a whole lot worse.
MacIntyre was extremely poor at The Scottish Open last week, but he has clearly worked hard on his game since then.
The Scot did hit some really poor shots on Thursday but he dug in deep, and made some crucial par saves to keep his score respectable.
It cannot have been easy for MacIntyre, or anyone else out on the golf course for that matter, to retain his focus with his round taking nigh on six hours to complete.
Robert MacIntyre thinks he knows what is causing slow play at The Open
The pace of play at Royal Portrush on Thursday was truly horrendous.
The majority of groups were taking around six hours to play their rounds.
Golf fans were angry with the pace of play during day one of The Open, and rightly so – something has to change.
MacIntyre spoke to the media after his round on Thursday and responded when asked to give his thoughts on the rounds taking around six hours.
He said: “Aye, I thought six hours in a practice round the other day was a long time. I didn’t think six hours in a tournament.
“We couldn’t have went any faster with — I was speaking there to the guys, and they’re saying pretty much everybody’s five hours 55. I guess golf courses are too long.“
I’m not sure if MacIntyre was being facetious there or not, but the length of golf courses is clearly not the issue here.
The fact that tour pros take far too long over the ball and during their pre-shot routines is the main problem.
Aim point doesn’t help either. The bottom line is that something has to be done before golf fans begin to switch off.
Robert MacIntyre’s honest verdict on his opening round at The Open
MacIntyre was nowhere near his best on day one at The Open.
However, his round of even-par was a fine effort in the end.
MacIntyre said: “Again, level par’s a solid day. When you got off to the start I got off to, one of them ones that you’re thinking you should be 3-, 4-under par, you can somewhat chase it. Great par putt on 15 when I’ve chased a tee shot thinking I can knock it down there and leave myself 60 yards, but I didn’t, I missed it in the rough.
“It’s one of the ones where for the first time in absolute donkeys, I’ve changed my rescue in for a 3-iron, and I actually feel like I needed my rescue a few times off the tee. That’s the way it goes. Go out there tomorrow and hopefully post a good number.“
A round in the 60s tomorrow will set MacIntyre up perfectly for the weekend at The Open.
We all know he has the game needed to contend on links golf courses, now it’s up to him to go out there and get the job done.
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