RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 2, 2024

Robert MacIntyre

Hamilton Golf and Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the winner of the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, Robert MacIntyre, to the interview room.

Robert, congratulations on your first PGA TOUR victory. With your father on the bag, how special was today?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: It was incredible. Everything that I've done in my life has been with the support of my family. The game of golf was kind of passed down the generations from -- I mean, I got it from my dad and luckily he's a 6 head man in Oban, at Glencruitten, and we've got a house between where you cross the road for four holes over the road at Glencruitten and we used to go out every night in the summer, no matter the weather, we would play four holes every night. He taught me the game of golf.

Then this week when I phoned him to come and caddie for me, to be honest, I was just coming here to play a golf tournament. There was no expectation, there was a lot going on with Visas and stuff during the week and to win it with him on the bag is just -- to be honest, I still can't believe that it happened.

THE MODERATOR: You've locked up spots in the next three tournaments, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the U.S. Open, and the Travelers Championship. How much does this win change the rest of the season for you?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: It changes everything. I mean, this is my fifth event in a row as well. I was planning to do U.S. Open qualifier tomorrow, 36 holes with my dad on the bag. Thankfully that's off the cards. You know what? It's just a dream come true and I just can't believe it's happened with him on the bag. I mean, there's been a lot going on with me for caddies and obviously I parted with Scotty last week and I just came here, I was happy, I was in a good mindframe, and I was just out here to play golf and hit the golf shots and add them up at the end. It wasn't until later on that I started to look at leaderboards properly and see where I was. I mean, we done it.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll take some questions.

Q. What did you learn about yourself this week?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: You know, I knew I had a hell of a fight in me. I've been working hard, really hard, on the mental side of the game because once we picked apart my game of golf, we knew that -- or we realized that the game of golf isn't the problem. I'm the problem. I've worked really hard at that with my team and I've said it probably for the last four or five weeks that the mental side's so important to me.

Yesterday when it wasn't going well, my dad just said, What have you been working on? What are you doing? Holed that putt on 10 and we just switched into gear. But it just shows that I can compete at the top level. I always knew I could, but until you do it, you really don't know.

Q. Are you going to play next week, Memorial?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, well, I've not even spoken to my mom, my family, my team, my managers. I mean, I'm guessing I'm going to have to (smiling). I mean, I would love to go home for a party, but I think we'll probably play next week.

Q. You just spoke about the importance of sort of getting your mind right and how that improved your performance. How helpful is it having your dad on the bag from a mental perspective and a focus perspective?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: To be honest, it wasn't really the focus. It was more the -- I said it yesterday. He's wanting me to do well just because I'm blood. There's no -- yeah, he's going to get a nice paycheck out of it, and my mom and dad will be mortgage-free now, and life's looking a little bit better on that side of things, but he just wants me to do well because I'm his son, and there's no angles to it, there's nothing. It's just shear fight for me. I mean, I fight for him as well. Coming down the last there when I hit that 7-iron and I watched it in the sky and I knew it was never enough club, so I hit it as hard as I could and it was perfect. As soon as I hit it, I looked up, it was perfect, and I actually had a lot of confidence, because I knew that one was going to be close. I still had a job to do, but I just felt like the guy that's properly taught me the game of golf I'm going to win a tournament with him on my bag and it's so special.

Q. So it sounds like he's going to get the caddie's percentage then?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, he'll do all right. I think I've got to get rid of some money just now for tax reasons. But he'll do nicely out of it. He deserves it. Look, he was a caddie for the week, but at the end of the day, he's my dad and it was just -- the emotion that you seen at the end, it was just almost out of sheer disbelieve that we done it with him on the bag. I mean, the amount of work that the caddies do week-in, week-out, which is unbelievable help. And then I just do it with my dad, he's got a yardage book -- I mean, he lost the yardage book, one, because he couldn't get in on Monday, and he didn't have credentials. I wouldn't have thought it.

Q. On the 18th green, there were fans with Scotland flags. One of them was yelling, No Scotland, No party. Just curious how you felt the atmosphere was on the 18th and just what it meant to you this week just to have those Scottish fans out there supporting you?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: No, I thought the crowds were unbelievable. All the Canadian fans were so respectful. I thought being left-handed helped on that side of it. I thought a lot of people kind of seen a bit of me in themselves as being left-handed. But I never realized how many Scots were actually in Canada. Look, the support I've had in Europe and Scotland and Oban has been incredible, and I just try and do my best, week-in, week-out out here and whether it's here or on the DP World Tour, I try my best and I fight as much as I can, and today we put in a hell of a fight.

Q. Curious about the Ryder Cup and the experience that you had from that. Obviously, Justin Rose was all over social media, he was congratulating you, but now that you were in the mix for a chance to win a PGA TOUR event, did you pull anything from that and maybe what did that experience mean to you to get to this point?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Oh, a hundred percent. There was a lot -- the Ryder Cup helped me massively and that man, Justin Rose, helped me a lot. I played with him Sunday at the PGA just recently, and he was making a run, and I watched the way he done things. We didn't speak a lot when we were out there because we both had a job to do. He was going along nicely. I wasn't doing great. I watch and I learn. When someone's doing something better than me, I watch and I learn and take things from it.

He also gave me a few pointers from playing Ryder Cup. I mean, yeah, the guy is one of the best British golfers ever. I got to play Ryder Cup with him, but the whole experience at the Ryder Cup and being part of a winning team and, yeah, I think it helped massively. Also being a kind of a team sport guy, it also pushed that a little bit more.

Q. Where were you when you made the call to you dad and what you said, like, when you asked him to caddie?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: I don't know, I think I was in a house in Dallas. But me and Scotty done all right. We played -- what, we done top 10 at Zurich with Detry. We had a chance to win at Myrtle Beach. But I just didn't feel the connection as much as I would have wanted, but he done a great job and I just phoned my dad and I was like, Are you able to caddie? To be honest, I tried to get other people, but they didn't want to do a one-weeker, and I've got a lot to -- a lot of decisions to make about going forward. My dad's not going to do that full-time. He's going to go home and get back on the mowers and work at Glencruitten. But, yeah, just, if in doubt, phone dad.

Q. I know your parents have been foster parents for a long time. What's that experience and having foster brothers and sisters, how has that kind of shaped your perspective in life?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: I think it makes you realize that hitting a white ball around a golf course isn't the most important thing. I mean, I've been in tears over it, kids going away from you. They become family. They have been in a tough spot. I wasn't given everything as a kid. I was given a great opportunity. My dad was obviously a really good sportsman, football, golf, shinty, didn't have the finances to really chase it, and I think it was something that my mom and dad always wanted to do. I've got two older sisters who are right into their horses, horse riding and stuff, but they even sacrificed quite a lot of that just to give me a chance.

I mean, I couldn't play in golf tournaments as a junior because we couldn't afford it. I think that made me, that makes me, that makes me fight and never give up, I think not being given anything. I mean, they gave me quite a bit. They gave me the opportunity, but never -- never was I spoon fed, I was always fighting for every bit of it.

Q. You've mentioned being a bit homesick for Scotland and you made a trip back, a three-week trip back. How important was that, what did you sort of learn from that, and do you think that your good finish at the PGA and this week would have been possible without it?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: No chance. Look, I went home. I was struggling. My girlfriend wasn't -- we just weren't enjoying the American Orlando lifestyle that we had thought would better my golf. To be honest, okay, the facilities are great and Isleworth, and I think it has helped my golf in a lot of ways by the way I have to chip it and whatnot. But when I went home, I had three weeks at home, touched the clubs twice in three weeks. Pitched up at Zurich with a shoulder injury that I thought, I ain't playing golf this week, from playing shinty and took a couple of painkillers and we rock on and didn't tell Thomas anything. I just said, I got a wee sore shoulder here, but we'll be all right.

It just clears my mind, being back home. I get to spend time with the boys, a couple of beers with 'em, and they just treat me like Bob. And playing shinty back at home in Oban, it's -- I don't get treated as Bob MacIntyre the golfer, I get treated as Bob MacIntyre one of the boys.

Q. Rory McIlroy said he could relate to how different it is, the culture shock and he said it would be great to see you get this win this week. Can you talk about your relationship with him from the Ryder Cup and what he's meant for your career?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, Rory's our role model. He's a guy I've looked up to for many years. I actually sat with him and Shane at Zurich, and Rory asked me, How were you enjoying it -- or how were you finding the States? He obviously had seen some of the articles, and I was, like, Rory, to be honest, I have struggled, and obviously, he's an only child, so he was able to have family out a lot more. We sat and discussed it and obviously from Ryder Cup we gelled well. Me and Shane are probably more of similar human beings. But, no, Rory's someone that I look up to, I can ask certain questions to, and yeah, he's just a role model.

Q. How big a threshold is this for you to get over sitting up there right now with that trophy right in front of you?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: It's massive. Look, I bogeyed them two holes. I hit a terrible 4-iron off the tee, a decent 6-iron, it just ran off, make bogey. It shows my attitude to the game of golf. It shows when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and I really believe that. It's about just staying in the fight. It didn't matter if I had lost the lead because I still had holes to play, I could still get it back. I was just hitting golf shots until we ran out, and that was in my head. Just miss it in the right spots and be smart about your play and just trust your hands, and that's all I done.

Q. A follow-up to that, Rory's talked a lot in the past with us about winning two National Opens here, other National Opens around the world. Is this, for you, kind of the same thing, is winning a National Open, especially in view of what you've done in Scotland a couple of times, is this big?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, I think National Opens are huge for professional golf or any kind of golf. I mean, look at the crowd. If it's not a National Open, the crowd's maybe not as big, but Canadian Open, a lot of good Canadian golfers on the PGA TOUR, and they're out there supporting them as much as they can. I mean, when I was in Scotland, obviously, Rory beat me to the post, but the support is different when it's -- I feel like National Opens are elevated because it is national and there's less -- it's one golf tournament, one nation, and that's what it is. I think it just raises the profile of the event, and the crowds come out and support it and, I mean, out there this week, it was incredible.

Q. You mentioned the mental side of the game. Are you working with a mental coach?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, I am, but that's -- I want it to just stay...

Q. You did seem to get agitated out there, especially with the drones. What was the problem with that and how did you overcome it?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: If it didn't go away, I was going to start throwing my clubs at it. That's how annoyed I was getting. I was standing on the drivable par-4 and when everyone's silent, all you can hear is a -- I mean, it's a big wasp. I asked 'em to get rid of it. They did.

Next hole, I'm in the bunker, and sure enough everyone's silent and all I hear is this buzzing again. I look up and here it is. And, I don't know, one of the guys must have been getting sick of me. I just kept turning to him because I knew he was the man to go to when that drone starts annoying me because yesterday on 18 it was the same guy. And he just radioed, Get that drone out of here.

And then I stood on the 9th fairway, wedge shot in, and sure enough all I can hear is this drone again, and I was -- I had had enough at that point. Rules official from the R & A was just beside us, and I brought her over, and I said, Look, this drone needs to get out of here. I've said it three times now. The drone is annoying me, the drone's putting me off, it's too close. I mean, it's easier when the blimps up there, but it's obviously the weather and stuff and it's just -- I had a job to do, and anything that was getting in my way was getting told to get out of the way. That's just the way -- I was focused today and that drone was doing my head, and so I told it to get away.

Q. What was the most helpful thing your father did for you today?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Today? I think he's done a great job this week. He just kept telling me, We just stay in the fight, and he actually said to me -- with four or five holes to go, he goes, If we play this in 1-under par, they got to come get ya. He knows what to say, when to say it, and, I mean, he thought that being here was a bit easier on his own mental health with watching the scores on the app, but I don't think this week's done him great with the head because of the stress. But look, he's the guy that's taught me the game of golf and he knows my game inside out, and I can't thank him enough for this week.

Q. Do you have any clue who is going to be on the bag at the U.S. Open or next week?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, I do. Well, I do, but I think --

Q. Another one you're not going to tell me?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: I can't. I can't right now. But I think it's a done deal now -- well, now it is.

Q. There was a brief moment early in your round where Mackenzie Hughes had caught you, he shared the lead with you, it was just after your first hole and he was four in. Were you aware of how close he was or aware of the field in general?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Not really. I mean, I always look at the leaderboard and see where we're at, but if it's not on the, if it's not on the right sheet, I just don't worry about it.

Look, I bogeyed the 1st -- I bogeyed it a few times this week. When you've got that much of a lead, you just, there's just things you got to do. I knew the par-5 was going to be massive to kind of flip the momentum back for me. It didn't really matter if I went behind, because I went behind yesterday by four shots, and I managed to flip eight shots in I think nine holes, 10 holes. So there was no problem about that, but the problem is that can also happen to you. So you got to stay focused, and I think I done a good job of that. A couple of the crowd started getting a bit rowdy, and I'm sure one got thrown out, with some of the things that he was saying, but, look, it was just, I was focused on doing a job and I done that.

Q. When you did call your dad to come and caddie, were you aware of all the hoops you were going to have to go through as far as getting him a work visa and I think he had to go up to Ottawa to get something, or did you even think about that when you gave him the call?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, yeah. So he, I mean, there's so much that goes through it. I was going up there to get a visa to get back in the U.S. I had trouble -- I had trouble getting into the U.S. for Zurich because I hadn't had the P 1 visa in my passport, I was told I could still travel on the ESTA. I realized I couldn't when I was sitting in secondary in Dublin Airport, thinking I'm not going to Zurich.

So, this week obviously, I turned up Monday morning, we couldn't get my dad through the door because he didn't have any credentials, so it was a bit of a hassle to try to sort that out. I then flew to Ottawa Monday night, after getting soaked on nine holes with my dad, got my visa, thankfully picked up 3:00 Tuesday, flew back here, got in here about 11 o'clock on Tuesday night. Luckily -- well, we asked, requested to play the pro-am on Wednesday, and they done that, they granted me nine holes. Yeah, we didn't really have an expectation and it was -- just everything was just carnage until we actually stepped on the golf course on Thursday.

Q. Just excuse my ignorance, but shinty, can we make some comparisons to hockey? Can you give us a little bit of --

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, I think if -- it's like, so it's the physicality of ice hockey. Obviously it's not on a rink, but, I mean, I went to my first game there in Dallas, and it's, it's rough and tough. It's a lot of body contact. I would say it's more like field hockey with no rules. I think a lot of you have seen hurling from Shane Lowry, so it's like a cross between hurling and field hockey, rough and tough. It's just -- it's what I've been brought up doing. My dad was a really good player and, I mean, I stupidly still play, but it's part of my, part of me.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Robert, congratulations again, and thank you for your time.

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Thank you.