It’s nice work if you can get it. With another fine display of courageous golf, Oban’s Robert MacIntyre took his earnings for the past fortnight to over £500,000 with his second successive runners-up finish on the European Tour.
The in-form 22-year-old, who claimed a brave share of second in the British Masters in his last tour outing two weeks ago, came close again at the Made In Denmark event at Himmerland yesterday and finished just a shot behind Austrian winner, Bernd Wiesberger.
On a captivating afternoon, MacIntyre once again revelled in the cut-and-thrust at the sharp end of affairs but was undone by a costly venture out of bounds on the 17th which gave Wiesberger some much needed breathing space playing the last.
The leading duo were going at it hammer and tongs on the closing day and couldn’t be separated over 15 holes. MacIntyre just missed an eagle putt on 14 and almost chipped in on the 15th but the golfing gods were not looking down kindly on the left-handed Scot.
Wiesberger then struck a telling blow on the 16th with a terrific tee-shot as he stole a march with a birdie before MacIntyre’s wayward clatter off the 17th allowed his Austrian rival the luxury of a bogey on the last to win it.
MacIntyre gave it a good go from distance on the 18th with a raking birdie putt to force a play-off but it rolled agonisingly past the cup.
Wiesberger finished with a 14-under tally after his 66, a final round card which was matched by the spirited MacIntyre.
“I’m proud of the way I finished,” said MacIntyre, who is now up to 13th on the Race to Dubai and in the mix for the tour’s Rookie of the Year award . “I thought I gave it everything I had. It was a poor shot on 17 that really cost me. It’s the worst swing I’ve probably put on a shot in a long, long time but I’m young, I live and I learn.
“I had to get it down 18 with a sniff and I did have a chance but Bernd played brilliantly all day. It’s just golf, we’ve just got to keep knocking on that door and one will open.”
MacIntyre added: “I get a feeling on the putter, the grip just feels great, maybe twice or three times a year. The last two weeks I’ve played, it’s felt unbelievable.
“On 14, the eagle putt, I don’t know how it missed and then on 15 I had a full horseshoe. When it’s your day, it’s your day, and today wasn’t my day.”
Wiesberger, who has endured a rough spell with injuries and missed seven months of last season, was left to savour his fifth European Tour victory.
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