Facing a bogey at the Open Championship, southpaw Robert MacIntyre was well on his way to an epic par.
Stuart Kerr/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Robert MacIntyre's shot on the 18th hole on Saturday at the Open Championship would be perfect if it weren't for one important fact: last week's Scottish Open winner is a southpaw.
By the time he reached the end of his third round at Royal Troon, he was one day and six over for the championship, 13 shots behind Shane Lowry, who was more than an hour out.
With not much to lose, MacIntyre pulled off a driver on the par-4 that brought two pots left into play. Troon's 18th had been one of the easiest all week, but the switch to the windward, now leeward, meant it was the hardest 7th on the course early on Saturday.
MacIntyre hit the big stick and watched, helplessly, as his blur got smaller and closer to the two buckets. The ball landed between the sand traps, kicked to the left and landed in the rough, a few inches from the sand, and landed high above it.
Lying would not be a problem for a right-handed person. But MacIntyre is not so lucky.
“As a left-handed person, where will you stand?” asked NBC anchor Terry Gannon.
Analyst Paul McGinley knew the answer.
“I don't think he can stand left,” McGinley said. “He will change the club and take it forward.”
When MacIntyre got to his ball, that's exactly what he was checking.
“It's one of those bad breaks you get on the golf links,” McGinley said.
First, he had a hybrid in his hands, wanting to stand somewhere behind the ball. But that would end up with him lining up in the right lane. He even goes as far as to stand in the basement and see what kind of baseball swing he can make.
Then he took the iron and turned it upside down to start practicing his right-handed swing. And that's what he did.
“You miss the shelter and you go up there and you don't get shot,” MacIntyre said afterward. “I couldn't even stand in the basement and hit it. I just thought, why don't I hit it right?”
Then, in something that almost happens in golf, MacIntyre's bad break was rewarded with a good break. He almost threw what looked like a short iron and caught it cleanly, but the ball went right.
“FORWARD!” he said, shouting his ball towards space.
But the ball went so far to the right that it missed the tall fescue grass, bounced off the grandstands and landed in the rough. He had a clear shot at the flag with plenty of green to work with from 70 yards.
“Yes, I was lucky,” he admitted later. “The only place I could go was left, so I just looked at the right-hand TV tower and just put a swing on it. As long as I'm against the team it will be fine.”
He threw his ball 2 feet, 7 inches. Round 4.
In his post-round press conference, MacIntyre was asked when he last played right-handed.
McGinley alleges that MacIntyre played traditional Scottish football and a flashy stick-up game, where players swing the stick from both sides.
But MacIntyre suspected the attempt might be the first.
“I was going to do one recently, but with a full swipe at it? I've never done one, I don't think, in my life,” he said.
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