Scotsman Robert MacIntyre to contest the Australian PGA and Australian Open

Keen to secure a berth at next year’s Masters at Augusta, a European Ryder Cup representative is heading to Australia in the hope of lifting his world ranking.

Scottish golfer Robert MacIntyre is heading to Australia. Picture: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Ryder Cup hero Robert MacIntyre is heading to Australia in his bid to secure a world ranking that’s good enough to play in next year’s Masters.

Ranked 54th in the world, the 27-year-old Scottish left-hander needs to move inside the top 50 by the end of the year to guarantee himself a spot in April’s Masters in Augusta.

As a result, MacIntyre is set to play for the next four weeks on the trot.

He will play in this week’s Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, followed by the DP World Tour in Dubai, the Australian PGA in Brisbane and the Australian Open in Sydney.

“For me, the way the world rankings work, it’s not going to hurt me playing more,” MacIntyre said.

“If I can play more, it just means that I can add up points and hopefully just tick over that top 50 mark come the end of December.

“If I can notch up a win in the next two events, it would give me a bit of a cushion, but it’s just about picking up as many points in the world rankings so I get to Augusta.”

Robert MacIntyre is heading Down Under to contest the Australian PGA and Australian Open. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

MacIntyre is no stranger to rising to the occasion when needing ranking points, having secured an automatic berth in the European team that beat the USA in the recent Ryder Cup in Rome courtesy of being top three in the DP World Tour standings at the September 3 cut-off.

“I’d been fighting for the spot for a year and a bit,” he said.

“The whole experience was incredible. Just being part of the team was one thing but my main goal was to win the Ryder Cup.

“I obviously got to do that with an unbelievable team around me and the most memorable part was just getting my hands on the trophy. I dreamt of it as a kid.

“Thankfully my first one was on a winning side. Hopefully I play many more.”

MacIntyre played in the Australian PGA in 2019 at Royal Pines but will get his first taste of Royal Queensland for the November 23-26 2023 edition of the event before teeing it up at the Australian Open the following week at The Australian and Lakes courses.

“I’ve always loved Australia and have family there, so I’m really looking forward to the fortnight playing in Brisbane and Sydney,” he said.

“The Australian PGA and Australian Open are two tournaments with great history and I’d love to be up there in both.

“There’s been some great examples in the past of players winning in Australia and then going on to big things in the following year.”

MacIntyre will be joined by fellow Scots Grant Forrest, Connor Syme and Calum Hill at the two events as well as Australian stars Cam Smith, Cam Davis, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman, Poland’s Adrian Meronk and PGA Tour players Patrick Rodgers and Nick Hardy.