Rory McIlroy delighted his Bob MacIntyre prediction came true as he hails 'one of best players in world'

Speaking on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2022, McIlroy singled out MacIntyre and the Hojgaard twins - Nicolai and Rasmus - when he preferred to focus on the future in terms of the transatlantic tussle as opposed to the past at a time when the European ranks had been divided by the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter becoming LIV Golf players.

“The Hojgaards, Bobby Mac, whoever else is coming up, they are the future of the Ryder Cup team,” declared McIlroy at the time. “That’s what we should be talking about.”

The following week, MacIntyre duly won the Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf Club on the outskirts of Rome, where he returned just under two years ago to make his Ryder Cup debut and finished unbeaten in three games in helping Europe record a 16.5-11.5 victory.

On the back of that confidence-boosting experience, the Oban man won twice on the PGA Tour last year, finished runner-up in the US Open this season and has broken into the world’s top ten for the first time.

He finished second behind McIlroy on the points list in the battle for six automatic spots in the European team to defend the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island next month, when Rasmus Hojgaard will be among his team-mates after Nicolai played in the 2023 encounter.

‘Bob has turned himself into one of the best players in the world’

“Absolutely,” said McIlroy, speaking once again during BMW PGA Championship week, in reply to being asked if it felt pleasing that the players he had mentioned in the same media centre had risen to the challenge bearing in mind they had all just started to make their mark on the DP World Tour. “We all knew these guys had a lot of potential. But they have gone out and they have earned it.

“Bob has turned himself into one of the best players in the world, a really gritty competitor. It was Nicolai last time in Rome and Rasmus this time in New York, and probably we weren't even talking about Ludvig [Aberg] at that time because he was still in college.

“Yeah, it's great to see. You could make an argument that the 12 guys that we have going to New York are more accomplished golfers than they were two years ago when most of us were in Rome. But it is amazing that those guys have stepped up and filled those spots that have been vacated by some of the older guard that have moved on at this point.

“Yeah, I will be one of those older guards that's going to be moving on here in the next decade or so, and I'm sure there's going to be great European talent coming to take my spot as well.”

Tommy Fleetwood, who will also be one of MacIntyre’s team-mates once again at Bethpage Black, first played with the Scot when he was a DP World Tour rookie in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2019.

“When you're playing with people, it's not that hard to spot talent,” said the FedEx Cup champion, also speaking in the build up to the $8 million Rolex Series event, which starts on Thursday.

“There's players that come out and when you're out on tour and playing with them, you judge them as the golfer they are. You can't judge them as a 20-year-old or 21-year-old. I think Bob was that for me. I think I said he was a very all-around accomplished golfer at that time, and it's not hard to spot a very good talent when you see it.

‘Such a great person to have on the golf course and the team room’

“Bob, his growth, it's been really, really good. He won twice on the PGA Tour last year. Again, unbelievably consistent year and, if J.J. Spaun had three-putted the last (at Oakmont in June), Bob would have been the US Open champion. The margins are so small.

“But the fact that he's there and competing shows he's one of the best players in the world. You look at where he is now, he’s such an asset to the European team in the Ryder Cup and such a great person to have on the golf course and the team room.

“Yeah, Bob just continues to grow from strength-to-strength and, as a fellow European player or friend or colleague that's out with him week-in, week-out, he's one of those guys that you enjoy being around and you enjoy someone that motivates you as well.”

Justin Rose helped MacIntyre grow into the 2023 match as his fourball partner and is excited to have the 29-year-old as one of his team-mates once again as Europe bid to land a first win on US soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.

“I think Bob is a totally different player coming into this,” declared Rose. “I think he's one of the players we'll look to and lean on to take it to the American team. I think he's playing really, really well.

“What I love about Bob is that when it gets tough, he seems to get better. We saw that at the US Open again this year. He had a great week all week but suddenly got himself into contention with about three or four holes to go, through his good play and through bogeys elsewhere. I thought the quality of golf shots he hit on 16, 17, 18, for example, were world class.

“He seems to have that ability for the big occasions. In Rome, he stepped up when needed, absolutely. He grew in confidence and he grew in comfort as that week went on.

“I think statistically, he's become a better golfer as well. He looks to me like he drives the ball really well now and his short game and, especially his putting, seems spot on. Driving and putting in match play is always a hard combination because you're always in the hole.”

Jon Rahm joked that he struggles to understand MacIntyre when he is speaking to him, but the two-time major winner also acknowledged the Scot has a game that allows him to let his golf do the talking. “He was a fantastic player before Rome, but he's obviously a much more accomplished player. He's a very high-level player,” said the Spaniard.