HAMILTON – Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre has a chance to give his dad quite the early Father’s Day gift.
With his father, Dougie, filling in as his caddie for the Canadian Open, MacIntyre is 18 holes away from securing his first victory on the PGA Tour after firing a four-under 66 in the third round on June 1 in Hamilton, Ontario.
Robert MacIntyre now sits at 14-under 196 for the tournament, four shots ahead of Ben Griffin (65 on June 1), Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Ryan Fox of New Zealand (70), who are all tied for second at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
“Caddies are so valuable out here, especially on a golf course like this where it’s a lot of slopes. But when you’re playing decent, I feel like today especially, like whoever was caddying for me, I’ve got that most respect for them, whoever it is,” Robert MacIntyre said.
“But my dad wants me to do well because we’re blood, you know what I mean, and there’s no other, there’s nothing other than pride and guts and what we’re trying to do.
“I mean, he’s been through thick and thin with me. He taught me how to play the game of golf until really I started working with a coach probably at about 14, 15.”
After playing bogey-free golf through his first two rounds, Robert MacIntyre struggled on the front nine on June 1, opening with a bogey at the par-4 first before picking up two more at Nos. 8 and 9.
But following yet another bogey at No. 13, Robert MacIntyre caught fire, going birdie-birdie-birdie before sinking a 31-foot putt for eagle at the par-five 17th.
“That’s a tough tee shot,” Robert MacIntyre said of No. 17. “The bunkers, I’m not a short hitter, but I’m not the longest, so that right bunker is quite sneaky. When Joel (Dahmen) was hitting his third shot in, I seen a guy in green, and my dad asked me, ‘Where are you hitting this?‘ And I said, ‘I’m trying to land it on that guy in the green.’
“I was never reaching him and then he moved on anyway, but it gave me a focused target down the left-hand side, because I knew if I hit it solid, I’m covering the left bunker. Yeah, just hit it as hard as I could and it came off perfect.”
Like Robert MacIntyre, Griffin and Fox have never won on the PGA Tour. Hughes is a two-time winner.
Griffin gave himself a chance to capture his first victory by collecting seven birdies against two bogeys on June 1.
“All I can do is just try to make birdies and focus on myself,” Griffin said. “I missed a short eagle putt on 17, but it’s all good, I’ll have plenty of chances (on June 2) to make up for some of those missed shots.”