They often say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. That’s not the case, of course, if your neighbour’s lawn has been struck by the fungal ravages of pythium blight.
For Robert MacIntyre, the green grasses of the US of A have left him feeling decidedly blue. Since upping sticks from the comforts of his home in Oban in an effort to establish himself on the PGA Tour on the other side of the Atlantic, the 27-year-old has found the golfing going tough.
Nobody said it was going be easy. Last week’s cut mark at the CJ Cup, for instance, was a “ridiculous” six-under and MacIntyre missed it by a shot.
It was his sixth early exit in 12 starts this year during a topsy turvy campaign that’s also included a sixth-place finish in Mexico.
Personally, the pursuit of the American dream has been a big upheaval for the young Scot. Professionally, there continues to be a lot to learn.
“For me, it's just the different grasses,” he said as he pinpointed the issues with the detail of a greenkeeper examining a clump of turf.
“People keep asking me at home, ‘well, what's happening, why are you struggling, what's happening here?’
“I wasn’t brought up playing a lot of Bermuda (grass), grainy grass and the pitching and putting is just completely different. You've got, say, a six-foot putt with the grain going the opposite way from the putt. How do you read that?
"It’s all a learning curve and the courses are all new to me too. But I am learning. I’m back to being a rookie. We've been put to the bottom and we've got to work our way up again now.
"If you've not got your best stuff, well, you're going to be up the road early, and that's just the standard we are playing at. That's fine. I just need to play better.”
Given that the DP World Tour tends to be as close-knit as a sewing bee, the very different life on the PGA Tour is something that MacIntyre continues to wrestle with. “It does become a lonely place at the golf side of it,” the Ryder Cup man admitted in a video call from the US during a media day for the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance.
“When you’re on the DP World Tour, it’s very friendly. Everyone is together. We’re all travelling the world. If we’re struggling with certain things, we speak to folk around us.
"You come out here to the PGA Tour, and it’s all so unfamiliar. There’s less chatting. There are less dinners. There’s just less of that big family feel that you get on the European circuit."
A refreshing trip back to the auld haunts of his Oban home in April was a timely tonic for MacIntyre.
“I felt like I came out a far happier man because it does get on top of you,” he said after some invigorating gulps of Scottish air and a few restorative thwacks and clatters with the shinty stick.
“It's getting to spend time with people that treat you as Bob, the human, and not Bob the golfer. There’s very little chat about golf. I meet with friends and they just treat me as the pal that they have grown up with.
"There's nothing fancy. For me, it's all about a work life balance. But I've not quite worked that out yet over here.”
The forthcoming PGA Championship, the second major of the men’s season, is the next big one for MacIntyre but July’s Genesis Scottish Open is scribbled in the diary in red capital letters.
Last year, he mounted a valiant final day charge that just about featured a bugle call as he closed with a rousing 64. His approach to the 72nd hole, which set up a rip-roaring birdie, was one of the shots of his life and gave him the clubhouse lead.
That pesky Rory McIlroy spoiled the party, though, as he conjured a truly world class finish with a brace of late birdies to pinch the prize by a single shot.
“Last year was almost a dream come true,” reflected MacIntyre, who can’t wait to get back to East Lothian for another shot at glory in the star-studded, $9 million domestic showpiece.
“The Scottish Open for me is the biggest event outside of the major championships. For any Scottish guy, it's the one we all want to win.”
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