MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2021

Robert MacIntyre

Quick Quotes

Q. You're a happy man about next year?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, happier than I was five minutes ago. I mean, this is a place you want to be competing every year. My first time this year, and I obviously put up a decent fight, but once you come here, you don't want to miss another one. I'm not missing next year for anything. I've played some great golf over the last week, and I feel like my game suits this golf course. The way I play golf suits the way this golf course wants you to play golf. I'm just over the moon to finish the way I finished.

Q. How proud are you of your debut?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: If someone had given me tied for 12th for a start, I'd have taken it, but then once I started getting into the battle, I could see how people were making scores. Obviously got off to a poor start today, but I battled back the way I normally do. Disappointing bogeys on 16 and 17, but huge birdieing the last.

Q. Everybody talks about how much experience you need around here, and it's impressive what Will [Zalatoris] is doing his first time, but is there something to be said for sort of showing up and not knowing what you don't know and just playing?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: We've watched this golf tournament for years, as well, but we also got help from the likes of DECADE's Scott Fawcett. Will the exact same. The two of us got a message, an email at the start of the week to show us how to tackle the golf course off the tee. I thought I done it well. Will is doing it better than I did, but Scott Fawcett and DECADE, they kind of showed us before we turned up here how to attack the golf course off the tees, and we tried to execute the plan, and we done it not bad.

Q. What's going to be your best memory of the week?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Holing that putt on 18 to get back next year. That's something that -- you always dream of playing golf tournaments like this. You don't ever take it for granted, and you've got a chance to do it, and I always wanted to play Augusta National, and here we are competing in the Masters, and we're going to do it again next year. This moment right now is everything I've ever dreamed of, and it's what I play golf for.

Q. And you have an invitation next week; you should be excited to get the momentum going?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, so I'll play next week obviously through the top 15 in the world. But I'm going to have a few beers tonight with my family and I'm just going to enjoy it. I've got my mom and dad here and the whole team, so I'm sure my two sisters and friends at home will be going mental right now.

It's part of what we do. We're a big family. We're a close-knit family, and just delighted to be here and competing.

Q. You have the black ribbon on your hat. Can you talk about what Jock meant to you?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, so Jock, a legend of a man. Great guy, from my neck of the woods, from Dunhaverty. Known him for I want to say about 10 years. Every time he phoned me up we would chat for a good five, ten minutes just chatting about life before we got into golf chat. It was just, how's things going, how's the family. He was a great guy, and I loved spending time with him, loved chatting to him, and just sadly he passed away. It was a week that I remembered him every step of the way, and that's the reason we wore the ribbon.

Q. Growing up did you watch the Masters back home? Did you stay up late at night and have a favorite memory?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, I've watched it for years and years. Favorite memory has got to be probably Tiger Woods chipping in from the back of 16. I was looking at it the last couple of days, and I'm like, how has he done that. It was a perfect advert for Nike, that one, with the Swoosh dropping in. My favorite memory now is holing that putt on 18. That's what you dream of as a kid, and we're here living it.

Q. At the start of the week I have to imagine you were a little overwhelmed to get here. The first tee shot to the last putt on 18, just tell me the progression of the week, your emotions.

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, so the first tee shot, the first hole of the first round I was really nervous. Then I got into the golf tournament, Friday, Saturday, wasn't nervous at all. Today I started getting edgy because it meant so much.

On 18 I knew -- well, you've dropped two shots in the last two holes, so me and Mike spoke about it, I asked Mike what does he think is going to make it back next year. He said three definitely but two has got a chance. We're standing over that putt and Tony has rolled a nice one in before me, so it was a nice mental state to be knowing, well, the ball fits, so go and do it.

Q. Who's here with you?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: It's my mom, dad, manager Iain and coach David. It's a tight-knit team. Everyone believes in me, I believe in them, and I think we do a good job.

Q. How did you feel as you continued to walk? Tony stopped his interview to acknowledge you and share your moment.

ROBERT MACINTYRE: Yeah, it's great. I've played with Tony a couple of times now, such a nice guy, and the two of us got on great. Chatting all the way around. But no, it's unbelievable, really to believe that I would be competing in the Masters Tournament, playing with the best guys on the planet. When I was a young kid I wanted to, but until I'm here doing it, you don't really believe it, and we're here now, and it's the best feeling I can have.

Q. How does the reality compare to the dream that you've had all these years?

ROBERT MACINTYRE: It's even better. You love a dream and you hope for it, but when you're here now, it's different. The buzz you get when I've holed that putt and then I've gone in and seen the scores and where I finished, and it's just -- it's everything you want as a kid, and we've done it.