​Photo by Mateo Villalba/Getty Images. Robert MacIntyre faced significant abuse from American fans at Bethpage Black during last year’s Ryder Cup. Yet the Scot has always welcomed hardship, a stubborn competitor who tends to excel when his back is against the wall. He even enjoys it that way, having earned his place at the pinnacle of golf through hard work and perseverance. Nothing about his rise as a player from Oban in Scotland came easily.
There were moments at the Ryder Cup last year when even MacIntyre found it hard to keep his focus amid the intensity of the taunts aimed in his direction. In a conversation with GOLF.com, he reflected on the abuse he endured at Bethpage Black in September. “Yeah, it was difficult,” he admitted. “There were a lot of personal things being shouted.” He recalled that on Friday he let it affect him a little, but drew on past experiences to steadier himself for Saturday.
A strong performance on Saturday came from him and Victor, and by Sunday the challenge was focusing on how to win the Ryder Cup. In the end, securing the crucial point mattered, especially with Victor sidelined by injury. He explained that his half-point was becoming increasingly important as they walked up 17 with him one down, and the message from the team was clear: they needed either his half-point or a full point to win.
MacIntyre also spoke about his belief that Europe might lose the Ryder Cup as the weekend wore on. “There was a lot of talk about the atmosphere and everything,” he said. “We knew what we were going into.” He noted the exceptional effort from every member of the team on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, admitting that at times on Sunday he felt the world might be ending. He confessed, “I thought we were going to lose the Ryder Cup, because it felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong.” He described how every match headed to the 18th green seemed to be going the wrong way, but the team still found a way to prevail.