Bob MacIntyre birdied the 18th hole at The Renaissance Club to claim an emotional victory and win the Scottish Open.
The home favorite produced a stunning finish 12 months ago at the same venue but saw Rory McIlroy take the title but he will not be denied again in front of his fans.
It needed another big finish as MacIntyre trailed by three on the back nine, but he bogeyed a long putt on 14, eagled the 16th after an impressive drive from the waves to six feet, and holed from 22 feet on the last to spark a wild. celebrations.
His closing 67 saw him finish at 18 under, one shot ahead of Adam Scott and two ahead of Romain Langasque.
MacIntyre has been saying all week that the Scottish Open is “what I'm looking for” following his 2023 woes when he last birdied McIlroy to birdie 17 and unleash his own magic to deny him death.
Since then MacIntyre has been part of the European Ryder Cup winning team and claimed his first – and now second – win on the PGA Tour to go along with his two previous victories on the DP World Tour.
He may now climb to 16th in the world rankings, but the title of Scotland's first winner of the event since Colin Montgomerie 25 years ago is clearly an achievement he appreciates more.
“It's what I wanted and it's what I got”
Speaking after lifting the coveted trophy, MacIntyre said: “It's unbelievable. My reaction when the ball dropped on the 18 said it all. I am almost speechless now. This is what I wanted and this is what I got. I watched it growing up, and it meant a lot. It was the only thing I could watch. I can't believe it has happened. I'm just going to go celebrate tonight.
“I said to my caddy Mike when we were out of 10, '16 or 17 could win this', because no one was escaping. No one was moving. Obviously the bogey on 10 was disappointing, but I got lucky on 16 and took the one chance I got on 18, and that's just my week. I put a lot of work into this. I changed a lot in the team and just worked hard. I wanted the Scottish Open. I just said to myself, 'take a chance, take a chance'. I took it. I do not believe you.
He concluded by saying: “Next week is a new week but I tell you, I will celebrate this with my family, friends, and everyone here.” I'm going to celebrate this one hard. We'll go up to The Open if we go up to The Open.
Joining MacIntyre at Royal Troon will be English pair Aaron Rai and Richard Mansell and Sweden's Alex Noren after finishing as the top three unseeded players in last season's Major Championship. Rai finished on 14-under par with McIlroy, overnight leader Ludvig Åberg, Sungjae Im of South Korea and American duo Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.
For the final leaderboard from the Genesis Scottish Open click here.
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