The Open 2025: Bob MacIntyre needs ‘hot start’ on final day

And as the sun shone, the 28-year-old found himself unable to take advantage of the more forgiving conditions in the way others could.

Sure, his scorecard showed the same spray of red as most of the field, but three ill-timed bogeys interupted any murmurings of momentum.

Three opening pars, then a dropped shot on four, caused him to slip down the order, but then his fortunes flipped.

Birdie on six immediately repaired the damage, before a close-range eagle on the par five seventh hoisted MacIntyre right back into the conversation.

Was that the spark? No. Bogey on eight stymied that.

And 15-footer for birdie on 11 – his longest of the week – turned out to be his last flicker. A flicker extinguished on 14.

When his approach from the middle of the fairway found a greenside bunker, his club went cartwheeling after it amid a cloud of elite swearing.

“I think it’s fair game to lose the plot every now and again,” MacIntyre said, when pressed on it afterwards. “A bit of anger came out.”

Three shots later, he scribbled down another bogey. Baw burst. Four closing pars were purely perfunctory.

“The tougher the test, the more I feel I can keep that discipline,” he added. “The more there’s a birdie fest and a shootout, that’s when I lose it properly.

“I thought walking away from here last night that I wouldn’t be more than three shots back, but ended up five shots back from the best player in the world.

“Now tomorrow is about going out there and finishing as high as we can.”