Bob Macintyre set for debut in exclusive Tiger Woods event after being included in elite field for first time

The Oban man has been listed in the 20-man field for the end-of-year $5 million tournament at Albany on 5-8 December through sitting 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking on the back of winning both the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open this year.

MacIntyre, who is among six players making their debut in the event held to raise funds for the TGR Foundation, will be the first Scot to tee up in in since 2016.

Colin Montgomerie made six appearances between 2001 and 2007, finishing third and fourth during that time. Martin Laird tied for sixth on his one and only appearance in 2011 before Russell Knox also flew the Saltire in it eight years ago, finishing 16th.

World No 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler spearheads the line up and is set to be joined on this occasion by four other players currently in the top ten - Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark, Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Cantlay.

Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley are the others ranked above MacIntyre while Sam Burns, Brian Harman, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Aaron Rai, Billy Horshcel and Matthieu Pavon have also committed to the event.

Three spots have still to be filled, with one of those likely to go to Woods if the tournament host has recovered from his latest back surgery just over a month ago to relieve nerve impingement and back spasms.

The trip to the Bahamas will cap a memorable year for MacIntyre after being among the first group of ten DP World Tour players to secure PGA Tour cards through the Race to Dubai.

The 28-year-old had openly admitted he had been struggling to adapt to life on the US circuit before landing a spectacular breakthrough win in the RBC Canadian Open in June with his dad Dougie caddying for him.

A few weeks later, MacIntyre then holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the final green at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian to become the first home player to win the Genesis Scottish Open since Montgomerie in 1999.

Helped by those victories, the left-hander qualified for the FedEx Cup Play-Offs, ending up joint-17th in the final standings behind Scottie Scheffler after the American’s remarkable seven successes, including both The Masters and The Players Championship, this year.

MacIntyre, the DP World Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2019, currently sits ninth in this season’s Race to Dubai, which is set to be won by Rory McIlroy for the third year in a row and sixth time in total.

The target for MacIntyre heading into the new end-of-season Play-Off events - the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship in Dubai - will be to improve on a career-best ninth in the standings in 2021.

The Scot’s debut outing in 2025 is set to be in Hawaii in the first week of January, having qualified for The Sentry, the PGA Tour’s tournament of champions, played over the Plantation Course at Kapalua.