Golf
PGA Tour golfer told to ‘grow up’ after getting stressy with tournament official
PGA Tour rookie Robert MacIntyre may have claimed his maiden title at the RBC Canadian Open.
But one of the big talking points on Sunday at Hamilton Golf & Country Club was the Scot’s behaviour on the course.
The CBS commentary team even compared MacIntyre to Colin Montgomerie.
In his pomp, Monty was one of the angriest golfers in the world.
If you weren’t aware, MacIntyre grew increasingly frustrated with the buzzing sound from the CBS drones.
One the first occasion, MacIntyre asked the tournament official for them to move away as he was getting distracted.
Then he really got irked.
“I told you once, I’m not gonna tell you again,” the hot mics picked up MacIntyre saying.
His dad Dougie, who was carrying the sticks for his son, also chimed in.
MacIntyre then threatened to erupt before the drones appeared to be grounded.
“I’m going to give them one last chance before I got mental at them,” he said.
In fairness to MacIntyre, it was a stressful environment and who are we to criticise a player who is trying to win on American soil for the very first time.
That being said, a number of golf fans tore into him on X after watching MacIntyre almost lose it.
“He’d hate LIV Golf,” one X user joked. “He needs to grow up.”
Another added: “Please, it’s not like he’s doing brain surgery! See the ball, hit the ball.”
An unsympathetic user wrote: “He’s a hell of a player but he sounded really pouty here though.
“Like Jim [Nantz, CBS commentator] said, drones are part of the future of pro golf coverage, he should get used to it.”
MacIntyre managed to keep his cool and held off a number of challengers to win Canada’s national open.
He recovered from a shaky start and eventually posted a total of 16-under, which was good enough for a one-shot win over American Ben Griffin.
MacIntyre was reduced to tears of joy and later told his mother over FaceTime that he was going to pay off his parents’ mortgage after collecting whopping prize money.
He’s currently on his way home to Oban with his girlfriend for a massive party.
Asked about how agitated he was getting, MacIntyre told reporters he was moments away from chucking clubs.
“That’s how annoyed I was getting,” he said.
“I was standing on the drivable par-4 and when everyone’s silent, all you can hear is a — I mean, it’s a big wasp. I asked ’em to get rid of it. They did.
“Next hole, I’m in the bunker, and sure enough everyone’s silent and all I hear is this buzzing again. I look up and here it is.
“And, I don’t know, one of the guys must have been getting sick of me.
“I just kept turning to him because I knew he was the man to go to when that drone starts annoying me because yesterday on 18 it was the same guy. And he just radioed, ‘Get that drone out of here’.
“And then I stood on the ninth fairway, wedge shot in, and sure enough all I can hear is this drone again, and I was — I had had enough at that point.”
He added: “[The] rules official from the R&A was just beside us, and I brought her over, and I said, ‘Look, this drone needs to get out of here. I’ve said it three times now. The drone is annoying me, the drone’s putting me off, it’s too close.’
“I mean, it’s easier when the blimps up there, but it’s obviously the weather and stuff and it’s just — I had a job to do, and anything that was getting in my way was getting told to get out of the way.
“That’s just the way — I was focused today and that drone was doing my head, and so I told it to get away.”
Watched our latest YouTube video?