NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Robert MacIntyre screamed so loud when the winning putt dropped that he lost his voice.
He still was drowned out by thousands of delirious fans who celebrated one of their own winning the Scottish Open on Sunday.
“It’s the one I wanted, and the one I got,” MacIntyre said after making a 22-foot birdie putt that fell on its last turn on the last hole for a 3-under-par 67 and a one-shot victory over Adam Scott. “I can’t believe it’s happened.”
It’s hard to believe how it happened: a birdie putt MacIntyre thought was short, a sprinkler head he couldn’t see, and three metal spikes he wears in the front of his golf shoes.
Two shots behind with three holes to play in regulation at the Renaissance Club, MacIntyre was swearing up a storm when he saw his tee shot on the par-5 16th go into grass so deep he figured he would be able to advance it only 100 yards down the fairway.
He took a practice swing. And then he heard a click.
Turns out there was a sprinkler head in the deep grass, and MacIntyre wouldn’t have felt it except for those spikes. He checked with his caddie to make sure it was under his stance. He called for a rules official. And he got the break of a lifetime, able to take take a free drop into shorter grass that allowed him to slash a 6-iron from 248 yards, a shot that settled six feet away from the cup.
He made the eagle putt to pull even with Scott, who had already finished off a closing 67. MacIntyre hit a pitching wedge into the 18th. He dropped his putter when he saw the ball disappear, delivering a sweeping uppercut and as loud a yell as he could muster. It sounded as though everyone else did, too.
This felt like a major to MacIntyre. It was the only tournament he could attend as a kid. And he became the first Scot to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999 at Loch Lomond.
Next up is the big one. The British Open, the final major of the year, start Thursday in Scotland at Royal Troon, where the most recent British player to win was just more than a century ago.
“A new week, but I tell you, I’m going to celebrate this with my family, friends, and everyone here,” MacIntyre said. “I’m going to celebrate this one hard. We’ll pitch up to the (British) Open when we pitch up to the (British) Open.”
MacIntyre finished the 72-hole event, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the Europe-based DP World Tour, at 18-under 262.
The 27-year-old from the tiny coastal town of Oban won for the second time this year, having captured the Canadian Open — the fourth-oldest championship in golf — last month. He will rise to No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking, new territory for the son of a greenskeeper who feels he has had to work for everything he has.
“A lot of people have said, ‘He doesn’t quite have this, he doesn’t quite have that.’ But I have fight,” MacIntyre said. “That’s all I need.”
MacIntyre atoned for a tough ending on the same course last year, when he hit a 3-wood in tight for a birdie on the last hole, only to lose out when Rory McIlroy drilled a 2-iron shot from 201 yards into the wind to set up the winning birdie.
Scott was in the scoring room watching on television Sunday when MacIntyre made the winning putt. He was on the verge of ending four years without a victory, but the 43-year-old Australian took solace after contending for the first time this year.
“Feel like I’m playing at a high level,” he said. “And you know, pleased for Bob. This is a big win. I played with him yesterday, and you can hear them singing. I think that’s awesome for him.”
France’s Romain Lanqasque (64) was alone in third at 15 under, with the six-way tie for fourth at 14 under including overnight leader Ludvig Aberg of Sweden. Aberg, up by two shots after 54 holes, closed with a 73.
McIlroy (68) also tied for fourth in his first appearance since he lost a late lead to finish second to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open last month.
Another fourth-place finisher, Aaron Rai (63), had reason to celebrate. After close calls the previous two weeks on the PGA Tour, the 29-year-old Englishman’s finish was good enough for one of the three final spots in the British Open at Royal Troon.
The other two spots went to England’s Richard Mansell (61) and Sweden’s Alex Noren (65), both part of the tie for 10th at 13 under, bringing the field to 159 players. It’s the first time since 1995 the British Open has gone over 156 players, which it can handle because of the long daylight hours.
Baylor School graduate Harris English (65) tied for 34th at 9 under.
Hall wins playoff
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — Harry Hall chipped in for a birdie from 45 feet on the third hole of a playoff to win the ISCO Championship, earning his first PGA Tour victory.
The 26-year-old Englishman closed with a 3-under 69 to finish 72 holes at 22-under 266 and get into the playoff with Zac Blair, Pierceson Coody, Rico Hoey and Matt NeSmith at Keene Trace’s Champions Course in the event co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour
Hall scrambled for a par on the par-4 18th on the first extra hole, driving well left into long grass, hitting into the front greenside bunker and blasting out to a foot. He stayed alive when NeSmith’s eight-foot birdie try slid by to the right.
On the next trip down 18 in the playoff, Hall, NeSmith and Coody all missed birdie putts, with NeSmith the closest at 12 feet.
Hall ended it on the 209-yard, par-3 ninth. Hitting first after all three went long into the rough, the former UNLV player got his chip from the right side to fall before NeSmith and Coody missed their attempts from behind the hole.
NeSmith and Blair each closed with a 64, playing in back-to-back groups about two hours in front of the final pairing.
Coody, the leader after each of the first three rounds, closed with a 70. He made a 12-foot birdie putt on 18 to get into the playoff.
Hoey took a one-stroke into the final hole of regulation, but he made a bogey after hitting his wedge approach bounced over the green and into rocks along the bank of a pond. He shot a 69.
Neal Shipley closed with a 70 to tie for for sixth at 20 under in his third PGA Tour start as a professional. He was the low amateur both at the Masters in April and at the U.S. Open last month.
AP file photo by Frank Franklin II / Harry Hall came out on top in a five-man playoff to win the ISCO Championship, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, on Sunday in Nicholasville, Ky.LIV: Garcia’s first
SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Sergio Garcia earned his first individual victory in LIV Golf League competition when he beat overnight leader Anirban Lahiri in a playoff for the Andalucia title at Real Club Valderrama.
The 44-year-old Spaniard thrilled the home fans by closing with a 5-under 66 to pull level with India’s Lahiri (73) and force the 18th-hole playoff with both at 5-under 208 after 54 holes of regulation play.
England’s Tyrell Hatton (61) finished alone in third, one shot out of the playoff.
Garcia had double-digit career wins in his career on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, including the 2017 Masters for his lone major championship, but this was his first victory since he joined the Saudi-backed LIV circuit when it debuted in 2022.
Garcia’s Fireballs won the team title at the tournament in southern Spain after winning a playoff over the Crushers, marking the first time both individual and team titles had been decided in a playoff in the same LIV tournament.
LIV Golf photo by Mateo Villalba via AP / Sergio Garcia reads his putt on the 18th green during the final round of the LIV Golf League’s Andalucia tournament at Real Club Valderrama on Sunday in Sotogrande, Spain.Els a senior major champ
AKRON, Ohio — Ernie Els won the Kaulig Companies Championship for his first senior major title, closing with a 2-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over Y.E. Yang at breezy Firestone Country Club.
A stroke behind reigning champion Steve Stricker entering the round, Els rebounded to par the final two holes after hitting in the water and making a bogey on the par-5 16th. Yang bogeyed the par-4 18th in a 66.
“It was a nerve-wracking final couple of holes,” Els said. “I got to the 17th tee and I saw Y.E. go to 9 under, so now I’m thinking, ‘Don’t screw this up even more now.'”
Els became the PGA Tour Champions’ first three-time winner this season, winning for the sixth time in his career on the 50-and-older tour.
“This is going to still have to settle in a little bit,” Els said. “It was quite a day.”
The 54-year-old South African has won four regular major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1997 and the British Open in 2002 and 2012.
Els finished the 72-hole tournament at 10-under 270 after opening with rounds of 68 and 64. The World Golf Hall of Famer earned $525,000 and a spot in The Players Championship next March.
Jerry Kelly, the 2020 and 2022 winner of this event, wound up third at 7 under after a 69. Stricker, also the 2021 winner, closed with a 73 to tie for fourth at 6 under.
Furue lands eagle, major
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Ayaka Furue made a late charge to win the Evian Championship with an eagle on the last hole, clinching her first major title.
The 24-year-old from Japan held her nerve with another clinical putt, having made three birdies in the previous four holes, to finish at 19-under 265 in the 72-hole tournament after posting a 6-under 65.
It was only her second title on the LPGA Tour, with the other coming at the Women’s Scottish Open in 2022 when she rallied from a four-shot deficit.
At the Evian Championship, Furue wound up one stroke ahead of Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou (67), the overnight leader, and two ahead of Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, who closed with a superb 63.
Lauren Coughlin (69), an American player, finished four shots behind Furue in fourth place.
