Robert MacIntyre heads into Portrush with 'I’m fiery on the golf course' message
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre may be one of the popular choices to contend for The Open at Royal Portrush, but he has no interest in just accepting platitudes this week.
The 28-year-old left-hander admits he does not want to be politely acknowledging applause for mediocre golf and is more likely to “smash something up” for motivation.
He applies a similar tactic when it comes to dealing with post-round frustrations and says he gives himself an hour to “go as mental as I want” in order to vent his anger and disappointment.
That was the case after his Scottish Open title defence ended with a disappointing joint 65th-place finish.
“I’m pretty good at telling everyone, ‘Give me an hour’. I can go as mental as I want for an hour – you can break things, literally do whatever – and after that I just back to life,” he said on how he handled his frustrations.
“It’s been difficult in the past for me to reset, but nowadays there’s so many golf tournaments and you don’t know what’s coming the next week.
“I’m fiery on the golf course when I’m in tournament rounds. I’ll drop a few bad words in there, I’ll hit the bag, I’ll say some harsh things, but that’s what gets me going.
“If I walk around and I’m all happy I just made a double bogey or people are clapping, that’s not me. I’m needing to smash something up. I want to rip a glove.
“I do something to get that anger out. It’s better out than in for me. For some people it’s better holding it, but for me it’s get it out and then just do not let it affect the next shot. Simple.”