Scottish star fell victim to deliberate act to put him off at key stage of first-day defeat at Bethpage Black during opening session
Bob MacIntyre fell victim to a disgraceful act of deliberate off-putting as he lost out at the Ryder Cup.
But the Scot reckons that’s what happens when bars open early and he should have handled the brutal situation better.
Deflated MacIntyre felt his wayward tee-shot into the par-three 17th cost him and partner Viktor Hovland their match, but there were highly-mitigating circumstances.
The Scot and his sidekick were fighting against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay and level at the time of the incident with two holes to go.
MacIntyre had the honour on the penultimate tee and the chance to strike a big blow in the contest by hitting it close.
However, as he prepared to take his strike, an American idiot yelled out of the crowd at the top of his backswing forcing him to stop and back off the shot.
MacIntyre then returned to hit his actual strike and, with wind changed, plonked it into a bunker short of the green with more noise coming his way.
It led to the loss of the hole and, as the duo were unable to recover it at the finale, the full point went to the Americans.
MacIntyre assessed the incident and said: “I mean, you’ve got to expect it out here. It’s what happens when the bar opens at 9.30am and we get round to there. Disappointing, but I should have done better and handled it better. At the end of the day, hit a better shot.
“It was literally in my golf swing, so I stopped because it was loud enough. I’d been speaking to Si [coach Simon Shanks] all week about prepare, commit, accept.
“I’d prepared well, I was fully committed, but, at the minute, there was a bit of doubt, I mean, it took my whole mind away from the shot, it was that loud. Then when I went back in, the wind had picked up, I should have switched club.
“It was one of those ones, you switch club, you get even more abuse. But, look, it’s part of the game, it’s part of this year’s Ryder Cup, I suppose.
“It was a decent game. We gave them two holes in the first eleven and then we fought back. Viktor holed beautiful putts and then, yeah, I felt like I cost us a match on the 17th. Just hit a poor iron shot that, at this level, you get absolutely crucified for.
“Me and [caddie] Mike had a discussion in the locker room, trying and dissect it, like we do every week. Just got to hit the shot that’s demanded rather than the shot that’s comfortable. I hit lovely wedge shots into 13, or nine-iron into 16.
“Beautiful shots, uncomfortable because I was having to hit too much club, take a lot off it to take the spin off it. I just wish I’d done that on 17, but that’s the game we play, isn’t it?”
All of Europe’s players were hit with some jibes during their matches with MacIntyre and Hovland also getting their share.
But, until that moment, it been mostly been kept to some slanging and, on occasion, unsavoury name calling when walking between shots and not during the actual motion of hitting a shot.
But the desperation of the situation for the hosts who were 3-0 down at that stage resulted in some individuals taking it too far.
It was a sickening way for it to end for the duo who had fought and battled back from a difficult situation of three down after 11 holes to level the game.
MacIntyre was followed around by a massive contingent of Scots with saltires everywhere. Tennis ace Jamie Murray was amongst the unit.
In the end, there was no win to cheer, but MacIntyre is keeping a strong mindset. He headed to do putting work as he sat out the afternoon session with an eye on delivering Saturday.
He said: “I struggle at times on this sort of surface. It’s the same surfaces as the likes of Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and that. It’s not great, but we’re going to go out there, hopefully tomorrow at some point, hole putts. The biggest thing is putting. For me, once you get the momentum, it doesn’t matter where you are on the golf course, you know you can play.
“At the start of the round, I was hitting nice pitches and recovery shots, nice chips. Obviously, I holed that nice putt on three, but other than that, I just felt like it was very flat.
“Foursomes is difficult that way, you can go a long time without having a certain length of putt. So, no, we’ve got to stay positive. It’s not just me that’s playing here, it’s a team. We’ve got to keep the spirits high, not just for me, but for everyone.”