'Horrific' - Disappointed Bob MacIntyre on his Scottish Open title defence as he fears sea sickness

He’s also fearing sea sickness on his ferry journey to Northern Ireland on Monday and has some equipment issues to resolve in the early part of next week.

But, despite all that, the Oban man is feeling confident that his “favourite links course in the world” will help bring out the best in him when he tees up in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush.

After finishing with a flourish on Friday to make the halfway cut by the skin of his teeth in the $9 million Rolex Series event, MacIntyre failed to fire on all cylinders as he signed off with rounds of 72-71 over the weekend for a two-over total.

“Horrific,” he declared. “Terrible week. Just on to next week. Just wasn't to be this week. I could dig into things and cause havoc, but I just put it down to a bad week for me, and, yeah, on to probably my favourite links golf course in the world.”

He’s hoping Portrush will be a tad softer than this one after having problems with the bounce on his irons. “This is as firm as this course has been,” he added. “There's some equipment things I need to learn from this because it's the first time I've played with these irons in concrete conditions.

‘I couldn’t get the strike’

“I'd moved into these irons for soft conditions, and I couldn't get the strike, I couldn't get the ball flight in the sky, I couldn't stop it, and so that side of it was annoying me.”

As Grant Forrest, who tied for 22nd on five under, picked up the Jock MacVicar AGW Memorial Trophy for the leading Scot, MacIntyre finished joint-65th. “Overall, just a poor week,” he went on. “I didn't have really anything go my way. Every time I went in a bunker, I was up the edge of a lip. When the wind switches like this and some of the holes are the way they are, it just sets up well for the guy that hits it 310 through the sky.”

In his first major appearance, MacIntyre finished joint-sixth behind Shane Lowry on the County Antrim coast in 2019 and is heading back there inside the world’s top 20.

“Yeah, it definitely won't be (as bouncy) on the west coast,” he predicted and should know, of course. “We get more rain, so I'm looking forward to that. I’m jumping on a ferry and getting over there and putting my feet up for a wee while tomorrow on the ferry, try not to get too seasick. But, yeah, next week will be far better.”

He’ll be back in 12 months to try and regain this title and heaped praise on the fans who’d supported him every step of the way once again in his home Open. “Obviously it was a disappointing performance, but the crowd have been amazing until the last hole,” he said.

“They were brilliant, but I'd lost my head by then, to be honest with you. I was in get-me-out-of-here mode. But, yeah, I can't thank everyone enough that supported me Monday through to today, it's been exceptional.”