Robert MacIntyre described winning for the first time in the Ryder Cup as a dream come true.
After sitting out the Saturday morning foursomes, the Oban golfer was sent out alongside Justin Rose in the afternoon fourballs for the second day in a row.
On Saturday they were up against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth and emerged 3&2 winners to secure a precious point on a tough session for the Europeans, who head into the singles with a 10.5-5.5 advantage.
MacIntyre, who will go up against Clark in the anchor match on Sunday, said: “It’s been brilliant.
“Today is everything I’ve dreamed of.
“I worked hard for it.
“Yesterday felt like I let Justin down a little bit but he stood up to the challenge and today he was brilliant again and thankfully I helped him out.”
Family first @robert1lefty 💙
A hug from Mum & Dad after winning his first Ryder Cup point.#TeamEurope | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/knasByWePy
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 30, 2023
Embracing the pressure
MacIntyre produced a birdie two on the 13th to put the European pair two up in their match although managing to get up-and-down when his ball was plugged in a bunker on 15th was probably just as important.
When asked about his experience so far, the Scot added: “Well, there’s a lot of nerves but you’ve got to embrace them.
“I’ve had it before, never in this magnitude but I just knew what to do.
Nerves of steel @robert1lefty 👏
MacIntyre and Rose are 3 UP with three to play.#TeamEurope | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/a5HxyWXe2v
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 30, 2023
“I was actually happy when I got to that bunker shot and it was plugged because I knew I could get the height on it.
“A lot of people would have been worried about it but I just said to (his caddie) Greg, you know what, it’s better being plugged than at the bottom of that bunker.
“You’ve just got to trust what you do, and to have a guy like Justin beside to you to guide you is massive.”
Rose was delighted to produce the one victory Europe enjoyed in a difficult afternoon session to help maintain a sizeable lead over the Americans heading into the final day in Rome.
He said: “I just knew there was a huge opportunity today.
“We got our nose just in front and when they both missed the fairway at 12 I said to Bobby: ‘The next 20 minutes, we have to put our foot down and get a stranglehold on this match.’
“That’s exactly what happened. We both let them off the hook there at No. 12 because these two are slippery, they are very tough to beat.
“Bobby made that great birdie on the par 3, and the up-and-down at 15.
“I was barking at him all the way the last few holes: ‘We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that.’”
