The Punter

The Punter's De-brief: MacIntyre wins with dad on the bag

Golfer Robert MacIntyre with his dad, Dougie
Robert and Dougie MacIntyre with the Canadian Open trophy

Robert MacIntyre has won his first PGA Tour event and Laurie Canter has got off the mark on the DP World Tour. Steve Rawlings is here to look back on their victories...

  • Scotsman wins on the PGA Tour for the first time

  • Canter keeps his cool to get off the mark in Germany

  • Read my Memorial Tournament preview here


My 130.0129/1 Find me a 100 Winner pick, Ryan Fox, was matched at a low of 1.991/1 before he'd made the turn in round three when he led by four after a fantastic start, but it was all change on the back-nine.

Having been tied with Fox at halfway, Dave Tindall's each-way pick, Robert MacIntyre, had drifted all the way out to 20.019/1 after a slow start to his third round but a chip-in birdie at the seventh turned his day around and he finished the round in style, birdying three in-a-row before eagling the par five 17th.

In stark contrast, Fox lost his way completely, playing his last ten holes of round three in four-over par and he ended the day tied for second alongside Canada's Mackenzie Hughes and pre-event 120.0119/1 chance, Ben Griffin.

The trio trailed MacIntyre by four strokes and the Scotsman was trading at a shade of odds-against at 2.0811/10.

In last week's Debrief I'd highlighted how these wide-margin leaders are often a value price and as it transpired, that was again the case here.

Prior to yesterday, 64 players had held a four-stroke lead in a 72-hole stroke play event on the PGA Tour since 1996 and 47 of them had gone on to win so odds of better than even money looked more than fair but anyone that had taken that price was made to sweat early on in round four.

MacIntyre, who was generally a 110.0109/1 chance before the off, drifted back out to 4.94/1 after a nervy start to round four saw him bogey the opening hole for the second day in-a-row and after Hughes had birdied three of his first four holes to draw alongside MacIntyre, the Canadian was matched at 3.052/1

In addition to the early move from Hughes, playing partners, Rory McIlroy and Tom Kim, charged from off the pace but ultimately came up short and Victor Perez posted a second successive six-under-par 64 to post the clubhouse lead at 14-under-par but that never really looked like being enough.

MacIntyre recovered nicely from his slow start and with none of his closest challengers making a positive move, he was matched at just 1.111/9 when he led by five after a birdie at the 11th.

MacIntyre then made back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13 to make it interesting and Griffin closed to within a stroke with birdies at 15, 16 and 17.

Having been matched at as high as 610.0609/1 on Friday, the 28-year-old American was matched at a low of 3.711/4 with a hole to play but he missed the green with his approach before MacIntyre hit a brilliant shot to 12 feet.

Both men parred the last and MacIntyre had won his first PGA Tour title.

Understandably emotional after the win, given MacIntyre had his dad, Dougie, caddying for him for the first time, he had this to say after the win.

"I'm crying with joy, but I'm laughing because I didn't think it was possible.

"I was going down the last and my dad's trying to tell me to stay focused and swing smooth because I got a little bit too fast (during round three), but in my head I wasn't listening to him.

"I wanted to win this for my dad. This is the guy who has taught me the game of golf and I just can't believe I have done this with him on the bag."


Canter keeps his cool

Over on the DP World Tour, my 30.029/1 in-play pick, Guido Migliozzi, and pre-event 36.035/1 chance, Laurie Canter, began the fourth and final round of the European Open tied for the lead but they weren't level for long.

Canter started nicely with a birdie at the opening hole but Migliozzi, who was a 65.064/1 chance before the off, was matched at a low of 2.0421/20 after he'd birdied the fourth to draw level and Canter had bogeyed the fifth but instead of kicking on, the Italian bogeyed six and seven before losing the plot on the back-nine - eventually posting a very disappointing five-over-par 78.

Pressure was certainly applied to the leader. There was a four-way tie after the leading group had played ten holes, with the Japanese, Keita Nakajima, joining Canter, Migliozzi and Niklas Norgaard on 11-under-par, with Julien Guerrier just a stroke back on -10.

Norgaard hit a low of 2.35/4 when he birdied the par five 11th but his challenge ended with a disastrous double-bogey at the 13th and with Migliozzi and Nakajima also dropping away, the challenges to Canter came from off the pace.

Thriston Lawrence was matched at a low of 5.04/1 when he gave himself an 11 footer for eagle at the 18th hole to post 12-under-par and Bernd Wiesberger was matched at 3.259/4 after he'd birdied 14, 15 and 16 to get to -12 but neither man could quite do enough.

Lawrence missed his eagle putt and Wiesberger bogeyed 17 and parred 18 before Canter kept his cool to close out with a par at the last to win by two.

Laurie Canter wins in Germany.jpg

After numerous near misses, six second placed finishes and over 200 starts worldwide, including 141 previous outings on the DP World Tour, the 34-year-old was quite emotional after his win.

"It's all I've wanted to do since I turned pro, since before I was a pro, so it's hard to rationalise now, but I'm really happy."


Now read my Memorial Tournament preview here


*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter


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