He wants the story to be that he’s the champion, but golfer Robert MacIntyre doesn’t want to be ‘the story’

When Robert Macintyre lost the British Amateur Championship final in 2016, he thought his dream was over; he was just 19 years old, and he was absolutely distraught.

When Robert Macintyre lost the British Amateur Championship final in 2016, he thought his dream was over; he was just 19 years old, and he was absolutely distraught. “I remember pretty much crying the whole way home,” he recalled to CNN Sports, “because I thought I’m never going to get to play The Masters, never going to get to play the US Open or The Open in my life.” Now 28, Macintyre is preparing to play The Masters at Augusta for a third time, and he admits that he was “small minded” to react so fatefully to a round of golf. But he says he’s just so competitive that he couldn’t help it. “If I got beat at something when I was younger, I’d be crying. You wouldn’t believe how competitive I am,” he said with a grin. “If I play a game of pool or a game of darts now, I’m not playing for the fun of it. That’s not me. I’m playing to win.” The soft-spoken MacIntyre is one of the more understated stars on the PGA Tour. Growing up in the tiny Scottish town of Oban (population 8,140) stepping into the bright lights of the American sports world has required some adjustments. “I’m a shy guy,” he explained. “I’m the complete opposite to the Americans.” In 2024, he admitted that he’d found it difficult to settle in the US; he was homesick, and he returned to Scotland to get away from the circus for a while. Back home, he says, nobody makes a fuss of him: “I get treated as Bob, the boy that’s grown up in Oban. I don’t get treated as Robert MacIntyre, the golfer on the PGA Tour.”