Robert MacIntyre was thrilled to secure a place in next year’s Masters after finishing joint 12th on his debut at Augusta National – a course “I’ve only played on computer games with my pals”.
The Scot was in danger of missing out until he birdied the 18th in a closing 72 to finish in a six-way tie.
It also moves the 24-year-old up one place to 44th in the world rankings.
“This moment right now is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and it’s what I play golf for,” MacIntyre said.
“If someone had given me tied for 12th before I started, I’d have taken it, but then, once I started getting into the battle, I could see how people were making scores.”
MacIntyre is relishing the opportunity to score even better at the major in 2022 after finishing on two under par, eight shots behind Hideki Matsuyama, the first golfer from Japan to win the title.
“This is a place you want to be competing every year,” the left-hander from Oban said. “My first time this year and I obviously put up a decent fight, but once you come here, you don’t want to miss another one.
“I’m not missing next year for anything. I’ve played some great golf over the last week and I feel like my game suits this golf course. The way I play golf suits the way this golf course wants you to play golf.”
Fellow 24-year-old debutant Will Zalatoris, of United States, finished one stroke behind Matsuyama.
MacIntyre revealed that he and Zalatoris had taken on board advice from coach Scott Fawcett before the tournament.
“We got an email to show us how to tackle and attack the golf course off the tee and I thought I did it well – Will’s done it better than I did – but we tried to execute the plan and did it not bad,” he said.
“I’ve got to take the positives. I’ve played great for my first year and tried to manage my way around a golf course that I’ve never seen.”
