Bob MacIntrye lashes out before Masters meltdown as Augusta dreams in tatters
Bob MacIntyre endured a Masters horror show at Augusta National on Thursday, finishing at eight over par and he summed up his day with a crude gesture after two huge blunders
Bob MacIntyre was sickened with himself in the midst of a woeful opening round of the Masters, with his high hopes of donning the Green Jacket torn to shreds at Augusta National.
And he flipped his middle finger in the direction of the 15th hole after a disastrous quadruple bogey that leaves him needing a huge turnaround to make the cut. The Scotsman was well fancied by punters heading into the event after going close to victory at the Valero Texas Open last week, but after leaving the fourth green at one under, his day unravelled.
He bogeyed the fifth before a double at nine, and the hot-tempered Oban lefty lost it on the iconic par-three 12th. He was furious after his tee shot skipped over the back of the green, whacking his club against his bag before stomping after his ball.
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He escaped with a par, but his afternoon in the fierce Georgia sunshine went from bad to worse at the par-five 15th, dunking two shots in the water and walking off with a nine on his card. His face reddened by rage and the heat, MacIntyre looked fit to combust.
He is likely to face a reprimand from the Green Jackets at Augusta National after flipping his middle finger in response to his capitulation. Augusta National is not known to tolerate such behavior without delivering a quiet warning.
The misery was not over there; he dropped another shot at 17 to end the opening round in a tie for 82nd place at eight-over-par. He made a quick exit without speaking to reporters.
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McIntyre was far from the only contender to suffer on Thursday. Bryson DeChambeau took three attempts to get out of a bunker en route to a four-over-par 76, while 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm has an uphill task to make the cut after signing for a six-over-par 78.
Just 16 players from the 91-man field finished under par for the day, which belonged to Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns. They share the lead at five under.
Reigning champion McIlroy was far from his best and was highly inaccurate off the tee, but he carved out six birdies and limited the damage to a single bogey to make a flying start to the defence of his title.
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“Honestly, I couldn’t have gotten a lot more out of my round. I feel like I leaned heavily on my experience out there to do that,” he said.
“My hope was to get off to a solid start. I feel like the way I played, five under, exceeded where I thought I would be or what I wanted to do.
“I think a fair score for me today would have been like two under, maybe, with some of the places I hit it. But again, I used my head, and I got up and down when I needed to. I didn’t compound mistakes. Again, that’s just a learning curve that you have to go through around here, and I did it well today.”
