Robert MacIntyre to pay off his parents’ mortgage after first PGA Tour title

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre pledged that his parents will be “mortgage free” after his father Dougie helped him win his first PGA Tour title in the RBC Canadian Open.

MacIntyre carded a final round of 68 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club to finish 16 under par, a shot ahead of home favourite Ben Griffin.

Griffin had piled on the pressure with birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th to close within one of his playing partner, but could not find a fourth in a row on the last to potentially force a play-off.

That meant MacIntyre had the luxury of two-putting from 10 feet for the win before embracing his father, the head greenkeeper at their local Glencruitten Golf Club who had been called on to caddie at short notice.

Asked if his dad would receive the standard 10 per cent of his winner’s cheque of £1.3million, MacIntyre joked: “Yeah, he’s going to get a nice paycheck out of it. I think I’ve got to get rid of some money just now for tax reasons.

“But he’ll do nicely out of it. He deserves it. And my mum and dad will be mortgage-free now, and life’s looking a little bit better on that side of things, but he just wants me to do well because I’m his son, and there’s no angles to it, there’s nothing.”

MacIntyre’s parents have fostered children for a number of years and the 27-year-old was asked how that had influenced his approach to life.

“I think it makes you realise that hitting a white ball around a golf course isn’t the most important thing,” the Ryder Cup winner said.

“I mean, I’ve been in tears over it, kids going away from you. They become family. They have been in a tough spot.

“I wasn’t given everything as a kid. I was given a great opportunity. My dad was obviously a really good sportsman, football, golf, shinty, (but) didn’t have the finances to really chase it, and I think it was something that my mum and dad always wanted to do.

“I’ve got two older sisters who are right into their horses, horse riding and stuff, but they even sacrificed quite a lot of that just to give me a chance.

“I mean, I couldn’t play in golf tournaments as a junior because we couldn’t afford it.

“I think that makes me fight and never give up, I think not being given anything. I mean, they gave me quite a bit. They gave me the opportunity, but never was I spoon fed, I was always fighting for every bit of it.”