Bob MacIntyre carded a three-under-par opening round of 67 at Royal Birkdale on the first day of The Open Championship, overcoming a drone that flew into his line of sight on the first tee.
MacIntyre had said before the tournament that it would be a test of discipline and patience. That prediction proved true before he had even hit his opening tee shot. He teed off at 7.19am in flat-calm, sunny conditions, with birdsong coming from nearby trees, when a drone flew overhead just as he was about to play.
"I could hear it coming in and I was like: 'Please, just keep flying over the top of me', and it just sat above me," MacIntyre said afterwards. "Then they announced me on the tee, and I was like: 'I'm not hitting until that drone is out of the way'. I don't know who spoke to it, but someone did."
"I knew from the practice days this was going to be a real test of my patience, real test of my mind, and I thought I did a great job," he added.
MacIntyre responded by making birdie on the 1st hole, holing a 45-foot putt. On the 2nd, his approach from 172 yards finished two feet from the pin, and he tapped in for a second consecutive birdie.
Playing alongside Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick, MacIntyre drew growing crowds as the round went on. He dropped his only shot of the day at the 8th after missing the green and failing to get up and down with his putter.
Back nine birdies
MacIntyre played the back nine strongly, despite saying earlier in the week that he had struggled to settle on a plan for the inward half.
He added two more birdies on the way in, the first from a 40-foot putt on the 12th, followed by another on the 14th. On the final hole, he pulled his second shot up against the grandstand to the right of the green but recovered with a flop shot from a difficult lie to leave himself a tap-in for par.
MacIntyre described the round as "almost the perfect round of golf." He largely avoided the driver, opting for long irons and a rescue club instead, which left him 20 or 30 yards behind Fowler and Fitzpatrick off the tee. Despite that, he shot a lower score than both playing partners.
"It was a test of discipline and almost acceptance, taking a lot of short clubs off the tee," he explained. "My job was to stay out of the pot bunkers. I feel I was very, very cautious off the tee. But the way I've been playing, approach play has been really good."
A brief flare-up
MacIntyre's composure was tested again on the par-five 17th when he pulled his second shot into a bunker. "You idiot," he shouted at himself, before splashing out and two-putting for par.
Temperatures at Royal Birkdale climbed to close to 30 degrees Celsius during the round. MacIntyre said he planned to spend the afternoon relaxing at the house he is renting in Southport for the week, including time in a hot tub with his young son, Findlay.
"It's literally about sticking to the plan and just playing good golf," MacIntyre said. "I said to you guys at the start of the week, I know my good golf is good enough to get in about it. That's the plan. Just go home now and chill out, probably go in the hot tub with the wee man. It's not too hot. It's like a swimming pool. It's like a cool bath. We'll go home and chill out and think about golf again probably tomorrow when I'm driving in."
Looking ahead
MacIntyre's form has been inconsistent for much of the season, but he looked more settled at Royal Birkdale on Thursday. He acknowledged that no prizes are awarded after a single round, but said the day gave him encouragement heading into the rest of the tournament.
"I could happily retire if I won an Open, won any major," he said. "If something happened, I could happily walk away from the game of golf. Yeah, I'll openly say it. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face. It would be all my goals that I ever dreamed of complete if I done that, but there's a long way to go."