Oban’s Robert MacIntyre has been given a prime draw alongside world No 1 Dustin Johnson for the first three days of the WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay in Texas – but will treat DJ the same as he would any other player.
The Scot is drawn with the Masters champion, Kevin Na and Adam Long for the round-robin stages at Austin Country Club, which begin tomorrow.
MacIntyre admits he’s been struggling a bit for form in his month-long sojourn to the US, playing in the WGC event in Florida, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a debut at the Players Championship, but reckons the Matchplay “is right up my alley”.
He added: “It’s a big draw, but it’s where you want to be so no complaints. I’ll mark their cards and they’ll mark mine and we will see who goes through in the end.
“I’ll be nervous on the first tee – if you aren’t nervous there’s something wrong, you’re playing the wrong game. It’s one v one this week, anyone can beat anyone on a given day.”
Matchplay lends itself to his favoured aggressive game, he feels, and the shootout nature of his first tour win in Cyprus – then it was lowest score on the final day won – showed that.
“First, I don’t need to concern myself with the other 63 guys, only the individual I’m playing that day,” he said. “You also know that you can have a seven on one hole and it’s just that one hole. In strokeplay, you might be out of the tournament, here you’ve got 17 other holes to make it up.
“The course is perfect for Matchplay. I could play absolutely brilliantly this week and lose every match. I could play mediocre and win every match.
“Until you play, you have no clue how the other guy will be playing. You give it your best and see who walks out at the end.”
MacIntyre admits he’s been piecing together his game the last three weeks in Florida as he hasn’t been happy with his ball-striking.
“I’ve been having to work hard, fight every day when I’ve been on the golf course,” he said. “I’ve not had my game, but that’s golf, you’re not going to have it all the time.
“I wasn’t trying to settle in (to playing in the US). I’m trying to jump in the deep end and swim. But I’ve played three golf courses now where you can’t just fake it round. I couldn’t hit the shots I was seeing and I had to rely on short game.
“Finishing where I did in the Arnold Palmer was actually a steal, given how I was playing. At Sawgrass, I was annoyed because I was there to compete, not just for the experience.
“Three-over wasn’t as bad as it should have been. We’ve worked hard this last week. I played 18 holes yesterday and it’s night and day to what it was there.”
MacIntyre’s coach David Burns went over to the States to check him over and confirmed it is just small adjustments that are required.
The cut-off point for getting an invitation to the Masters by way of his world ranking is in next week’s Texas Open and reaching the last 16 would probably cement his place, but MacIntyre still refuses to even think about that.
“If an invitation comes through the door, that’s when I’ll think about it,” he said. “If I play good golf it takes care of everything. I haven’t worried about it up to now, so why start?”