Robert MacIntyre continues to live his dreams, but is determined not to let it go to his head, hence a decision to stand up European heroes at Royal Portrush.
Preparing for his first Open Championship, the 22-year-old put his name down for a practice round on Tuesday with Oliver Wilson, the former Dunhill Links champion with whom he’s enjoyed a couple of pre-tournament knocks before.
The next time Robert looked, defending Open champion Francesco Molinari had added his name to the practice time. Gulp.
Then as Tuesday morning came around, the left-hander from Oban saw another name had been added to their time – Ian Poulter. That’s when Robert decided it was anything but the low-key approach he was looking for.
“Had a wee bit of a change of mind,” he said. “I said before I came here that I wouldn’t put my name up with big names and that was going to be two in the one group.
“Initially it was myself and Oliver, and I’ve had a few rounds before with him in practice. Then Molinari was there and finally Poulter and I thought I didn’t want to be in that environment.
“It’s something I can control for myself. I don’t want to get overawed, it’s already nerve-wracking enough at an Open without the added pressure of being on the first tee with Molinari and Poulter when you’d don’t have to be.
“Come the weekend, if I’m in the same group as one of them then I’ll be hopefully doing something right. So I’ll take that as it comes.”
Instead Robert went out with China’s Haotong Li. Martin Kaymer (first reserve and still hoping for a late withdrawl) joined up but as often happens with practice rounds, the others dipped in and out and Robert was eventually left by himself, which he ultimately prefers. A birdie at the famous “Calamity Corner” par three 16th got a huge cheer from the large practice day crowd.
“The course is one of the best,” he said. “I know it from the Home Internationals when I was an amateur. It’s always been on the list to play again but I didn’t think I’d be playing it in my first Open.
“It’s a strong course, it’s not just a knock round. There’s trouble round every corner. It’s going to be a tee to green course, if you drive it well, you’ll score well.
“But it’s brilliant to be here. It’s a dream again. I’m dreaming of things and they are actually happening just now. The crowds have been brilliant already so it will be a great experience and a great week.”
While he actively seeks a low key approach, Robert doesn’t think that his high-profile pairing with Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler was the reason he missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week, only his third MC of the season.
“I got that out of my system quickly,” he said. “I thought I did well, I was four under. Playing with Rory and Rickie, I thought I did better than most would have done.
“I didn’t take any negatives away from last week. It was a missed cut, just my third of the season. It’s not the be-all and end-all.
“Four under par wasn’t bad it just wasn’t good enough to make the cut on that week. This week, I’ll go and play my own game and see how we do.”
He expects nerves, but nothing like he experienced with the big names at Renaissance.
“I was thinking last week I might have to get my caddie to peg my ball up, I was so nervous,” he said.
“It was actually perfect prep for this week, getting out in that group, thrown in at the deep end with these guys and handling it as well as I did.
“I thought, ‘well, there’s only one man who could top that for pressure, maybe two. Mickelson and Tiger’. I’d be pretty nervous if that happened but then it would be great wouldn’t it.
“I’ll enjoy my game with Beef (Andrew Johnson) and Kyle Stanley. It will be as relaxed as I can make it.”
