Exclusive:Bob MacIntyre opens up on 'massive' change heading into Masters

“It was massive,” admitted the Oban man of making a major equipment change for last week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio after a two-week break on the PGA Tour. “But I went down to Woburn and spent time with Liam McDougall and the boys at Titleist.”

Referring to how it performed at TPC San Antonio, where he finished joint-second behind J.J. Spaun, he added: “It was brilliant last week and I am going to tweak it again a bit for this week just to fine tune it.”

MacIntyre ranked T1 in driving accuracy in the final round on Sunday, hitting 11 out of 14 fairways and, overall, he was strong off the tee with his new weapon, which is a Titleist GTS2 driver.

“Statistically, it has been magic,” he said, smiling. “I’ve put on speed myself. I’m now over 180 ball speed, which has been my goal in the off-season going into this year.

“I’ve done that and, when you get more consistent spin, you get a more consistent driver. You can control what you are doing and it’s been brilliant. It’s difficult to do something like that and difficult to trust it, but you can only see how much you’ve got in it once you put it in play and you get into a position where you are uncomfortable and I think I proved that it is good.”

MacIntyre is making his fourth Augusta National appearance this week, having finished joint-12th in 2012, sharing 23rd spot the following year but then missing the cut last year.

‘I am in good form and I feel I am swinging it well’

“I dropped shots just before the scoring holes,” he said of that disappointment after being asked if he felt there were particular holes he needs to play well this week, having been paired with world No 1 and two-time champion Scottie Scheffler and recent Houston Open winner Gary Woodland.

“I was always going one over just before a birdie chance. It’s about making a par at those holes so that you are going forward rather than backwards when you make a birdie.

“I don’t think there is one particular hole. I am just going to play aggressively and hope it’s your week. I am in good form and I feel I am swinging it well. The course isn’t tricked up. It could get firm, but it’s not wild.”