PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Some of you who play this game possibly have one or two clubs in the bag that are such trusted and scuffed old favourites, your playing partners look at them with the kind of peering curiosity folk adopt when examining a primitive shard of flint in a museum display cabinet.
Here at the 153rd Open, Robert MacIntyre has employed something of a blast from the past, too.
Nicely perched on the leaderboard at five-under, after a stout 66 in round two at Royal Portrush, the 28-year-old Scot revealed he’s utilising the services of a 3-wood that was designed a decade ago.
Ok, so it’s 10 years, not 100. But in these times of rampaging technological advance, which renders anything you bought about four months ago look like something from 1925, MacIntyre’s stick may as well have a hickory shaft and a light dusting of stoor on the hosel.
“I’ve always struggled with 3-woods ever since I was young,” explained MacIntyre of this TaylorMade Aeroburner relic. “I went back into the cupboard, looked at the antiques and found this.
“I actually thought I’d broken it in 2020. It wasn’t going the distance. But I hit it a couple of times on my simulator, and it was doing everything it used to do when everyone else thought it was broken. It works.”
MacIntyre certainly got to work in the second round as he manoeuvred himself into an attack position heading into the weekend.
Apart from a bogey on the 16th, after a wayward drive, this was an impressive display of poise and purpose.
That deviation from par was swiftly rectified on the 17th as he rolled in a 20-footer for a birdie.
In this happy hunting ground – he finished in a share of sixth on his Open debut at Portrush in 2019 – MacIntyre is, well, as happy as Larry.
With 36 holes to play, and plenty of twists and turns to come, this is exactly where MacIntyre wants to be.
In 2019, the lefty was a major rookie. In 2025, he’s a serious major contender.
“It doesn’t feel as much pressure this time,” admitted the 2024 Scottish Open champion, who was runner-up in last month’s U.S. Open.
“In 2019, I was nervous, excited, but put a lot of pressure on myself because I love the golf course and there was so much going on because it was my first major.
“Now I feel like this is where I want to be. These are the tournaments I want to compete really hard in come Sundays. However long my career is going to be, this is what I want to do.”
MacIntyre’s spirited weekend efforts at formidable Oakmont a few weeks ago were almost rewarded with the ultimate glory in the U.S. Open.
Despite a number of high finishes in the majors, that was the first time he’d really been in the mix coming down the stretch.
Portrush is a very different set up compared to brutal Oakmont, but if he finds himself in a similar position come Sunday, the Scot will certainly embrace the cut-and-thrust at the sharp end.
“I’m not scared, I’m not going to back away,” added the world No. 14 as he strives to become the first Scotsman since Paul Lawrie in 1999 to lift the Claret Jug.
“It (Portrush) is completely different to Oakmont. At Oakmont, I couldn’t roll the dice. It was never, ‘let’s press, let’s press’. It was always, ‘right, let’s go out here with pars’.
“Hopefully, this weekend, come the 69th or 70th hole, I’ve got a chance. If I’ve got a chance, I’m going to roll the dice.
“I’ve got so much more confidence and so much more belief that I am good enough (to win a major). I got the Scottish Open last year, now the full focus is on winning majors.”
As MacIntyre marched on, the rest of the Scots in the field all departed at the halfway stage.
Connor Graham, the Blairgowrie teenager, had been going along quite the thing at level-par for the day through nine holes but the wheels came off on the back nine.
The 18-year-old former Walker Cup player stumbled to a couple of shattering double-bogeys as he came home in 43 and his 79 saw him miss the cut on 10-over.
Perth’s Daniel Young, who finished his first round in near darkness on Thursday, battled to a level-par 71 on day two, but those late bogeys in the fading light the night before came home to roost, and he exited on four-over.
Cameron Adam, the former Scottish Amateur champion, was on course to make the cut with a couple of holes to play but bogeys at 17 and 18 in a 72 killed his hopes as he slithered back to three-over.
MacIntyre, then, is the last Scot standing. He got home and dry just before a big, manky rain cloud burst. Now, he’s looking to deliver a silver lining.
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