Robert MacIntyre savours biggest ever payday before viral moment of ‘high level respect’


Robert MacIntyre has been hailed for his classy reaction to missing out on US Open glory.

The Scot had ended his final round at Oakmont as the clubhouse leader after a two-under-par 68.

MacIntyre secured his biggest career payday by finishing second at the US Open

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MacIntyre secured his biggest career payday by finishing second at the US OpenCredit: Getty
The Scot ended the tournament two shots behind winner JJ Spaun

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The Scot ended the tournament two shots behind winner JJ SpaunCredit: Getty

It meant MacIntyre finished the weekend on one-over after a gruelling four days.

With JJ Spaun still on the course, the 28-year-old faced an agonising wait to discover his fate.

After a birdie on the 17th hole, the American found the green in two on 18 to give himself two putts to avoid a play-off with MacIntyre.

He needed just one as he sunk a 64-foot effort to clinch his first Major victory.

MacIntyre scooped $2,322,000 (£1,713,577) by ending the weekend two strokes behind Spaun.

The earnings are the biggest of his career from a single event and have seen him climb to fourth in the Team Europe Ryder Cup rankings.

MacIntyre’s reaction to the winning moment was caught on camera as he watched on a TV screen in the clubhouse.

The world number 12 could be seen exclaiming ‘wow!’ as he applauded his rivals moment of glory.

His reaction quickly went viral as fans hailed the Ryder Cup star’s sportsmanship despite missing out on his desired result.

Commenting on the clip, one fan wrote: “Pure class.”

MacInytre was hailed for his 'pure class' reaction to Spaun's winning putt

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MacInytre was hailed for his ‘pure class’ reaction to Spaun’s winning puttCredit: X / @USOpenGolf

Another added: “Great respect shown by Bob. Well played.”

Meanwhile, a third fan also stated: “Nothing but class.”

As for MacIntyre, he explained: “Obviously I didn’t get off to the best of starts. I was two over through three and then holed a lovely putt on the fourth, par five for eagle.

“That kind of settled me down. That got me into somewhat of a groove and back in the golf tournament.

“Then the back nine was just all about fighting. Obviously the rain delay. My previous rain delay comebacks haven’t been strong.

“Today was a day that I said to myself, ‘Why not? Why can’t it be me today’ when I was going round, and I just trusted myself, trusted my caddie Mike, trusted all the work that I’ve done.”

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His second place finish represented the best Major performance of his career so far.

In a post on social media, he added: “Competing in the deep end of Major championships is what I’ve dreamed of and yesterday was the first real taste of it. We’ll be back for more.”

MacIntyre’s previous best Major finish had been tied-sixth on his debut at The Open back in 2019.

He has since claimed two wins on the PGA Tour, having triumphed at both the Canadian Open and Scottish Open last year.



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