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Qualified at the last minute for the Ryder Cup team, Robert MacIntyre admitted to having experienced “the worst weekend of his life” in Crans-sur-Sierre where he had to wait to know the performance of his rivals to be sure of an automatic place in the “squad” of Luke Donald.
Robert MacIntyre, statements
“A torture !” Robert MacIntyre did not beat around the bush when during a podcast for the site Bunkered.com, he was asked how he experienced the last tournament in the race to qualify for the Ryder Cup.
The Scotsman was in the right car before the Omega European Masters to obtain 3rd place in European points, but he risked being overtaken by Adrian Meronk, Yannik Paul or even Victor Perez in the event of a strong performance from the Pole, German or French.”The last week was probably the worst I’ve ever had, if I’m being honest with you,” left-handed Bob said.
I was sitting in my hotel room all last week and I didn’t want to do anything. There was so much going on. It was just hell. I wasn’t playing well. I always struggled at altitude and just had negative thoughts. I had made the worst case scenario in my head.
“I won’t be part of the team, they will steal my place. ” It was hard.”“I discovered late that the last decisive tournament for the “qualif” was in Crans-sur-Sierre, I thought it was at the BMW Championship.
So I had to resolve to play the Omega European Masters, when I had rather planned to chain the Irish Open and Wentworth. Victor Perez had the same idea. We both went to play. And… I didn’t play very well. I barely got two or three points for this run in the Ryder Cup.
But every point was vital in the end”. The wait on Sunday afternoon was very painful for the 27-year-old who will play his first Ryder Cup in Rome (read the 12 European players scrutinized).“I kept an eye on what the guys were doing on the course.
After my 4th round, I headed to the airport, watching every shot live on Yannik and Adrian’s tracker. I was just over the moon when I realized that I automatically qualified for the team. I put everything I had in me to get this place and I got it.“Today I’m pretty relaxed,” continued MacIntyre, who will be the first Scot since Stephen Gallagher in 2014 to represent Europe.
I feel the excitement building, there will be a lot of eyes on me at Wentworth next week. I can’t find the words today about what this means to me, I will have to live this experience in Rome. I expect to be nervous, amazed, scared, a little bit of everything… It’s going to be immense”.
