It’s been quite the week for Robert MacIntyre. He led The Open after a few holes of his first round last

Thursday. He earned global praise – and generated quite a hoopla – for calling out an experienced PGA Tour player for not shouting fore at the weekend. And yesterday he rolled in a putt of some 20 feet for a closing birdie to finish with a flourish and eventually claim an extraordinary tie for sixth on his debut in golf’s most celebrated major.

It was the best result by a Scot in The Open since Colin Montgomerie was second at St Andrews in 2005. The lads and lassies at The Oban Times were preparing the commemorative supplement.

MacIntyre’s three-under 68 in the increasingly grisly conditions was a terrific effort and the rewards were considerable. As well as a cheque for upwards of £220,000, the 22-year-old also got an exemption for next year’s Open at St George’s.

There was even the possibility of him getting into the Masters at one stage as he flirted with a top-four finish that would have got him a tee-time at Augusta. The gasping Scottish golf writers were just about reaching for their oxygen masks amid the feverish palpitations.

As the global superstars were getting their minions to pack up their drookit belongings and hopping on to their private jets at the conclusion of the 148th championship, MacIntyre was looking forward to the simple, routine pleasures of everyday life back in the auld haunts of Oban.

He might get carried there on a triumphant sedan chair after this?

“I’m scheduled for a wee bit of shinty training on Tuesday, so I’m sure I’ll be there,” said MacIntyre with a statement that probably no other professional golfer on the planet will have uttered yesterday.

“I always go to shinty training every week, when I’m home. It’s half six until eight o’clock and it gives me absolute peace of mind. I’m away from absolutely everything out there, just playing with my pals.

“It gives me everything, starting with fitness. I’ve lost a bit of weight too since I started doing the training again earlier in the season. It’s been a case of so far so good, so I’ll just keep doing it.

“My dad is the coach of Oban Celtic, so he takes the training. I get out there and enjoy it. It’s not dangerous at all when you’re with your pals and they know what’s going on.

“I will keep my feet on the ground. I’m sure my family and friends back home will give me a ripping, anyway. I’ve got to enjoy this with my family who are here, then get home and enjoy three weeks off. It’s time to enjoy this and see everyone

MacIntyre deserves a bit of downtime and a bit of normality too. The strides he has been making during his rookie season on the European Tour have earned him plenty of praise and plaudits but the last couple of weeks have gained him much wider recognition.

The American journalists here in The Open media centre who tried to pronounce ‘Glencruitten’ just about choked on their own brains.

Having to explain to them what shinty was all about, meanwhile, was broadly equivalent to getting a dog to understand the finer points of algebraic geometry.

MacIntyre’s grouping with Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler at last week’s Scottish Open certainly stood him in good stead and he took to the major arena here at Portrush like a duck to water. Which was a good job good given some of the torrents that were unleashed on the deluged Dunluce links.

MacIntyre made sure he savoured that cap-doffing meander up the very last hole and he was given a rousing send off after holing that birdie putt.

“That was the way to finish, it was brilliant,” he said with a beam that was wider than the Hoover Dam. “Greg [his caddie] and myself just had to enjoy it. You never know how many Open appearances you’re going to get. So for me to do this in my first one had been a dream come true.

“I actually didn’t putt great today. But I missed in the right spots. Today was the first time we’ve actually played the golf course the way it was meant to be played.

“We stuck to our guns and did everything right. A few putts just slipped by but I’m happy to get that one in the end. I’m proud of the way I handled the whole week, from start to finish, from my preparation all the way through to that putt on the last.

“I’m quite a chilled-out guy and last week at the Scottish was huge preparation for this. What an experience it was to play with Rory and Rickie and it set me up perfectly for this. I’m just proud of the way I’ve done everything.

“My highlight of the week has to be holing that putt on 18 there. I mean that’s the kind of thing that gets the hairs standing up on the back of your neck.

“That’s what you play the game for, moments like that. And we knew it could be huge. We said coming down the last that a birdie might get that top-10 finish. I said to Greg ‘I’ve missed chances on 15, 16 and 17 with putts that have just shaved the edge of the hole so one of them has to go in today.”

“Growing up, as a kid on the putting green with your pals, you’re making putts like that and thinking it’s to win the Masters or win the Open. I’m sure I would have taken the Open over the Camanachd Cup.

“Unfortunately that putt wasn’t to win the Open – but it’s put me in a good position for the future.”

The future seems very bright for MacIntyre.