'That is beyond lucky' - Robert MacIntyre suffers highs and lows with wild slices of luck at Nedbank Golf Challenge
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Updated 10/11/2022 at 17:58 GMT
Robert MacIntyre has had a positive run of form in the past couple of months, winning the Italian Open at Marco Simone Country Club, as well as showing up well in Portugal, France, Spain and his native Scotland at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He arrived at the Nedbank Golf Challenge with a positive mindset, but struggled for consistency and had to deal with some changes of fortune.
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There is a school of thought that says luck tends to even itself out, and Robert MacIntyre had slices of good and bad luck during an eventful opening round to the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
The Scot is one of the rising stars of the European scene, and secured his second win on the DP World Tour when emerging victorious at the Italian Open in September.
His form has been pretty good in the weeks since his triumph at the venue for next year’s Ryder Cup, and MacIntyre arrived at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City high on confidence.
Confidence does not always translate to positive outcomes, though, and MacIntyre struggled for consistency on the opening day in South Africa.
He started with a bogey, had trouble off the tee on a number of holes - and a push to the left on the eighth looked set to be fatal.
With trees all the way down the left, trees that locals will be quick to warn you are home to black mamba snakes, it is not a good spot to consider venturing into.
That was what MacIntyre had in mind with his ball in flight, as it flew into the trees - only to be tossed back. The remarkable thing was the ball did not come out straight away, it took a few seconds before being deposited onto the fairway.
“That is beyond lucky,” came the call from the commentary box.
He did not take advantage of the slice of good fortune, as he leaked his second shot to the left and was forced to settle for a bogey.
While luck was on MacIntyre’s side on the eighth, the golfing gods were not smiling on the 26-year-old a little later in the round.
Short irons are one of MacIntyre’s strengths, as he demonstrated when taking dead aim at the pin on 14th.
Unfortunately for MacIntyre, his aim was too precise as the ball crashed into the pin and ricocheted off the green.
“That is such a bad break,” said Tony Johnstone on commentary. “That was coming down high and soft, it was not going to finish more than two or three feet away.
“It could have slam-dunked.”
After his mixed day on the course, MacIntyre signed for a round of 73 which leaves him nine shots adrift of leader Ryan Fox.
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