HAMILTON – Bob MacIntyre hugged his father, Dougie, in a tear-filled embrace. A lifelong dream came true. A father, who had sacrificed so much for his family, and the son, together in victory.
After being uncomfortable with the American lifestyle he’s had over the first half of the year in Orlando, MacIntyre went home for a few weeks and enjoyed being just Bob, “one of the boys.” He made an emergency phone call to his father – an elite sportsman himself — to ask him to come caddie for him this week at the RBC Canadian Open. There were hurdles. A lot of them. Including a Monday night flight to Ottawa to get a Visa.
“Everything was just carnage until we actually stepped on the golf course on Thursday,” MacIntyre said with a smile.
But by Sunday night, the duo was serenaded with the Scottish fans who had turned up at Hamilton chanting, “Bobby! Bobby!” and the MacIntyre’s got to share something special.
“I just try and do my best, week-in, week-out. Whether it’s (on the PGA Tour) 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,” MacIntyre said. “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.”
MacIntyre won the RBC Canadian Open by one shot over Ben Griffin. He opened with a bogey after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker but rattled off three birdies over the balance of his front nine.
He had two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine but hit his approach shot on the par-4 18th to just 10 feet, and it was game over. MacIntyre leaned on his deft short game to take this one across the finish line — leading the field in strokes gained: putting and eighth in strokes gained: around the green. He shot a final-round 68.
Despite the two late bogeys, the way he finished was a massive boost to his confidence as he heads into a busy summertime stretch.
“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,” MacIntyre said. “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.”
MacIntyre was the fifth player from Scotland to win on the PGA Tour since the start of the 1940 season and first since Martin Laird in 2020. He was also the third Scottish-born golfer to win the Canadian Open but first since 1926.
He was also the first player on the PGA Tour to win with his father on the bag since Heath Slocum had his father, Jack, caddy for him in 2005.
MacIntyre said his father, with a laugh, thought it would be easier for his mental health to be alongside his son in person versus just watching scores on the PGA Tour’s app.
“But I don’t think this week’s done him great with the head because of the stress,” MacIntyre said. “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.”
The week was almost a magical one for Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, who, after a spectacular start to his day — making three birdies in a row on Nos. 2-4 and sharing the early lead — it was starting to look like a redo of Nick Taylor the year prior. Even the weather at Hamilton was exactly the same as the weather Sunday at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in 2023. Hughes made three bogeys in a six-hole stretch, however, and ran out of holes.
If there was any consolation, Hughes, who finished tied for seventh, earned a spot in The Open as one of the three qualifiers via The Open Qualifying Series – of which the RBC Canadian Open was again in 2024.
“I wanted this one pretty badly,” Hughes admitted. “I don’t know, this one will sting for a while.”
Hughes didn’t even end up as low Canadian for the week, as that honour went to Corey Conners for the second time. Conners sprinted up the leaderboard after making four birdies in a row on the back nine. He added another on the par-5 17th but closed with a bogey. Still, his sixth-place result is his best of the season.
“It’s a big stretch coming up here. I wanted to get myself in the mix this week. Definitely felt like my game was trending positively the last few weeks that I played,” Conners said. “I like where things are at. And I’m continuing to feel better and better about things. Definitely take lots of confidence from this week.”
It was a week in Canada, but it was not a Canadian’s week this time around.
MacIntyre – who grew up playing shinty, Scotland’s version of field hockey – felt plenty of close Canadian connections this week. But none was as close as the connection he felt to his dad. Fathers and sons. There’s just something about it.
“To win it with him on the bag,” MacIntyre said, “I still can’t believe that it happened.”