If I wasn't playing this game, I would be on the tools'

Dreaming big and proud of his roots, Robert MacIntyre wants to follow up a 'fairytale' year with Augusta glory

- Ewan Murray

What a mistake it would be to presume the boy-next-door demeanour means a lack of competitive instinct. Robert MacIntyre's love for Oban, shinty and all associated is endearing. He has also proved that he is perfectly comfortable in the company of golf's aristocracy. MacIntyre missed the module where sportspeople are advised not to speak about lifetime aspirations. Mention the Masters to the Scot and he lights up. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; after impressing at Augusta National in 2021 and 2022, he failed to qualify for the next two stagings. MacIntyre returns for the 89th edition as the 17th-ranked player in the world.

"A Green Jacket," MacIntyre says. "Imagine taking a Green Jacket back to Glencruitten... boy, it would get ripped off me I think. I am a big dreamer. I see things and believe in them. I just want a chance... I picture the 18th hole, standing on that tee and what I would do. I still don't know what I would do. It would be nerve-racking but that is why you build a team around you.

"That's why I have one of the best caddies in the world to help me. I would be shaking like I have never shook before on that tee but it is your job, go and execute it. I just want to have that shot."

MacIntyre has cause to think big. The Scottish Open was a lifetime goal; one he realised by winning in East Lothian last July. The previous month, he had become the Canadian Open champion with his father on the bag. In his own words, it was the stuff of "absolute fairytale". Storied, magical moments seem to attach themselves to the 28-year-old. He is well within his rights to contemplate Masters glory. The first major of the year, after all, has a tendency to favour left-handed golfers.