Bob MacIntyre gears up for The Open - Scot plays Royal Troon for the first time

Before turning his attention to next week’s Genesis Scottish Open in East Lothian, the RBC Canadian Open champion took the opportunity to pay a visit to Royal Troon on Wednesday.

He was just on his own and posted a photograph on social media of a greenkeeper “ironing the tee box” in preparation for the final men’s major of the season.

MacIntyre, who will be making his fifth straight appearance in the event, told The Scotsman earlier in the year how much he is looking forward to teeing it up on the west coast of Scotland on this occasion.

“To be honest, I’ve never played Troon, but I’ve heard great things about it, especially due to the wind being in out of the right on the way out and in out the left on the way in,” said the 27-year-old.

“In out of the left can favour a left-hander. Obviously I watched the 2016 battle there between Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson and it’s one I am looking forward to.

"Aye, if not the Genesis Scottish Open, The Open is the one you want to win and, if you can win one in Scotland, even better.”

Meanwhile, McIntyre, last year’s runner-up, is set to be among eight home players teeing up in next week’s $9 million Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.

When the entries closed last Friday, MacIntyre, Richie Ramsay, Ewen Ferguson, Grant Forrest, Connor Syme and Calum Hill were all sitting above the cut-off line.

As the next highest-Scot on the DP World Tour category list for the current season, Scott Jamieson was originally listed as one of three players to get an invitation, but he’s now in as well without needing that.

So it has gone instead to David Law, meaning that Stephen Gallacher is the only player among the Scots competing regularly on the circuit this season to be missing out. Well down the list, he’s among the entries for the ISCO Championship, another co-sanctioned event taking place at the same time in Kentucky.

In this week’s DP World Tour event, Ferguson is off to a promising start after making seven birdies in a five-under 67 to sit one shot off the lead in the BMW International Open in Munich.

“It was a really good round,” said the Scot of matching a morning effort from former Masters champion Patrick Reed before Australian David Micheluzzi set the pace with a 66. “It was pretty windy out there, the gusts were making it challenging. I just thought I needed to keep my head a bit as it was very easy to make a mistake and pick the wrong clubs.

“I managed to stay patient when I made a three-putt in the middle of the back nine for a silly bogey, even though I think everyone was making bogeys out there, and it was nice to finish off with a birdie.

“I’m used to the wind in Scotland and I was quite happy with it being windy this week with the Scottish Open coming up next week, so it’s good prep for that and I’m pretty happy with my game as well.”