Native son Robert MacIntyre narrowly wins Scottish Open

Robert MacIntyre has reason to celebrate, and not even a huge tournament on the horizon is going to stop him from soaking in what happened Sunday.

MacIntyre birdied the final hole to win his home country’s national championship, the Genesis Scottish Open in North Berwick.

“I wanted the Scottish Open,” he said. “The crowd has been unbelievable.”

MacIntyre, who was clearly the fan favorite at The Renaissance Club, shot a 3-under-par 67 and finished at 18-under 262. That gave him a one-shot victory over Australia’s Adam Scott, who also posted 67 and had a two-shot lead when he finished his round earlier in the day.

MacIntyre, a left-hander who won last month’s RBC Canadian Open, was three shots back with five holes to go, but he had time to catch up. He used an eagle on the par-5 No. 16 — aided by a free drop before his second shot because of a sprinkler head — to make his move and then finished it with a putt from about 22 feet on No. 18.

MacIntyre would love to have another victory on home soil with the Open Championship set for the coming week at Royal Troon Golf Club. Thoughts about that can wait as he revels in becoming the first Scottish golfer to win this event since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.

“Next week is a new week, but I tell you, I’m going to celebrate this with my family, friends and everyone here,” MacIntyre said. “I’m going to celebrate this one hard. We’ll pitch up to The Open when we pitch up to The Open.” Scott was bidding for his first victory since the Genesis Invitational in February 2020. Scott, who turns 44 on Tuesday, had only one top-10 finish in his first 14 PGA Tour outings this year — a tie for eighth place in February at the WM Phoenix Open.

“It’s hard to complain about anything,” Scott said. “I mean, really, it’s the first time I’ve been in contention this year.”

Even with two bogeys and a double bogey, Scott looked to be in solid position. He notched birdies on three of the five par-3s in the final round.

The Scottish Open is the first of two tournaments co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. France’s Romain Langasque (64), who primarily plays in Europe, was third at 15 under.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, the third-round leader, slumped to 73 and shared fourth place at 14 under. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (68), the 2023 champion, and England’s Aaron Rai (63), with the fourth-best score in the final round, also finished at 14 under along with Collin Morikawa (69), Sahith Theegala (69) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (69).

It was a good-bounce back week for McIlroy, who was playing his first tournament since the collapse late in the final round of last month’s U.S. Open.

“I had a lot of chances that I wasn’t able to convert, and that was sort of the story of the week,” McIlroy said. “Felt like the ball-striking was there pretty much every day.”

This could bode well for the Open Championship.

“I feel like my game is in really good shape heading into the final major of the year,” McIlroy said.

Rai’s effort allowed him to qualify for the Open Championship, so that was a satisfying outcome for another European golfer.

“I think it still really has not sunk in,” Rai said. “I really did not have those expectations going into today. I mean, any of the majors are incredible. The British Open is obviously very, very special.”

Langasque had good vibes even though he finished with pars on the last two holes following an eagle that put him in contention to win.

“It’s a lovely day,” he said. “Happy to finish the weekend strong.”

England’s Richard Mansell turned in 61 to match the course record Sunday, rising to a tie for 10th at 13 under.