Robert MacIntyre eight back heading into Open final round
'I was just trying to hold that wind but going in the bunker, the bunker's dead. I've lost the plot on both of those shots and a bit of anger came out.'
MacIntyre is still perched inside the top-10 with 18-holes of the final men's major of the year to play, but a one-under 70 for a six-under aggregate left him playing catch-up. It's no ordinary golfer he's trying to catch either.
'Scottie's by far the best player in the world,' added MacIntyre of a man who holds this 153rd Open in a double nelson and doesn't look like he's going to loosen his grip.
'When I went home (after round two) I thought I wouldn't be more than three shots back. But I ended up five shots back from the best player in the world. You just feel that you're a little bit too far back.
'I don't know if that had an effect on me today? I was having to push a little bit more, and a couple of mistakes came in early on.'
A bogey on the fourth didn't help MacIntyre's cause but he swiftly repaired the damage with a birdie on the fifth then clattered a fine approach from 245-yards to within six-feet of the pin on the seventh and gobbled up the eagle chance.
Flying high there, MacIntyre was brought back down to earth with a bogey on the very next hole as the topsy-turvy nature of his round continued.
Tied sixth the last time The Open was held at Portrush in 2019, the 28-year-old still has plenty to play for.
'Unless I get off to a hot, hot start, it (winning) is probably out the window,' he said. 'But I'll go out there and try to finish as high as I can, and get as many world ranking points and Ryder Cup points as I can.'
MacIntyre will certainly give it his all.
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