Bob MacIntyre and Gemma Dryburgh both off to strong starts in US

Playing with Jordan Spieth and Ludvig Aberg, MacIntyre finished birdie-birdie to post a bogey-free six-under-par 66 in the Valero Texas Open at San Antonio.

The splendid effort left the Oban man sitting joint-second, one shot behind leader Mark Hubbard, with 24 players still to complete their opening circuit following a weather delay at the start of the day.

“Yeah, it was a nice round,” admitted MacIntyre, who opened with seven straight pars before picking up birdies at the eighth, tenth, 12th and 14th before signing off with a 3-4 finish. “Got a new driver in the bag and, yeah, felt like I drove the ball really well.

“The wind got up pretty much as we were going to tee off. I knew it was going to be tough, but you have to take your chances. It’s back nine and a finishing stretch with some big opportunities and, thankfully, today I did that. Yeah, it was just a solid round of golf.”

MacIntyre is playing in the event for only the second time, having decided to add it to his schedule this year to get himself exactly where he wants to be heading into The Masters next week.

‘A happy me is always good’

“I had a nice two weeks off back with the family and the little one (son Findlay),” he replied to being asked if he felt there had been any rust in his game after taking two weeks off since his big performance in The Players Championship.

“Of course there's going to be a bit of rust, but like life's good, so a happy me is always good. Normally when I'm in a good mind frame, there's no problems with the gold game. Just kind of let it flow and that's what I did today.”

As Hubbard came home in 30 to set the pace, Aberg signed for a 67 to sit alongside Tommy Fleetwood while Spieth had to settle for a 71.

Meanwhile, Dryburgh opened with a three-under 69 in the Aramco Championship at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas to sit joint-seventh in the LET/LPGA co-sanctioned event.

“Approach play and my putting was quite good,” observed the Aberdonian of her effort. “It wasn't quite as good off the tee today, so, if I sort that, I think I could have some more chances tomorrow hopefully. But, yeah, putted really nicely and I think that helps a lot round here because the greens are firm and fast, yeah.”

Like MacIntyre, Dryburgh also became a parent earlier this year after welcoming son Leo into the world along with her partner, Anne-Lise Bidou.

‘He’s such a good boy’

“It's been pretty good,” said the Aberdonian of being one of the new mums on the tour. “I think we were very lucky. He's been pretty easy, so long may it continue.

“Yeah, he's such a good boy. He lets us sleep pretty good. So, yeah, it's been lovely. We went to the pool with him yesterday and had a bit of fun with him. Yeah, it's great fun. Nice to come back to him after the round.”

American Lauren Coughlin, the 2024 ISPS Handa Scottish Women’s Open champion, opened with a 67 to share the lead with Japanese duo Nasa Hataoka and Miyu Yamashita.