OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Robert McIntyre has roughly coincided with a comeback in the final round of US open history.
Instead, he had to settle for second place only ownership, but on a day when so many candidates, including the winner, were in trouble, Macintyre handled both Oakmont and the weather with aplomb.
advertisement
MacIntyre shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday, finishing the tournament in one over. Two strokes from JJSpaun. Macintyre was a seven-stroke from leader Sam Burns at the beginning of the day. He actually made 10 shots with Burns, but couldn’t beat Spaun.
“I think I saw a leaderboard where leaders were even when I was walking 14 or 12 years. I knew where I was. I think I was three over. “For a week I said a level-par in my head. I’m just looking for four pars. I almost got there, but not at all.”
As Macintyre said, Spaun was still on the course. The playoffs, or even a perfect McIntyre victory, was still possible. Camera footage showed Macintyre’s applause as Spaun rolled his majestic birdie putt at 18 and finished at 1 under.
Arnold Palmer is the only US open winner from seven strokes in the final round. He did it in 1960 at Cherry Hills.
advertisement
Palmer birded six of his first seven holes that day. The MacIntyre rally was floating and waiting for the leader to retreat. The Scottish left-hander actually bogeyed two of the first three holes and fell to five, but a 58-foot putt on the par-5 fourth Eagle started him in the right direction.
“That kind of thing calmed me down,” he said. “It put me in a bit of a ditch and went back to the golf tournament. And then the back nine was all about fighting.”
Macintyre said he continued his stretch during the 97-minute weather delay that dripped from his shirt and stopped the final round. Down the stretch he hit a sharp, slightly green shot of green on the par 4 17th and moved to 1 with birdies there. He had a birdie putt of just over 30 feet on the final hole, but it didn’t fall, and Spaun finished the tournament with two straight birdies to win it.
But Macintyre did enough to get him to win it. Of the top six finishers, only McIntyre was filmed on the PAR on the final day. And Scott was the only player on the field to shoot in PAR on both Saturday and Sunday.
advertisement
“Today was the day I told myself. Why not? Would you like to be me today?” he said. “When I was spinning, and I trusted myself, trusted my caddy Mike (Barrow), trusted all the work I did.”
Macintyre was a member of the European victory Ryder Cup team in 2023. Last year he won his first two PGA Tour titles at the Canadian Open and the Scottish Open.
Being a Scotland native does not necessarily give him any advantage in the rainy weather in Oakmont.
“When that rain comes, I’m not outside. I’ll be indoors like you guys,” he said. “I’ve just moved to the PGA Tour, so I’m a fairweather golfer.”
___
AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
