By Martin Dempster

Copyright scotsman

Bob MacIntyre had “goosebumps” as Europe’s Ryder Cup team gathered for a special dinner on Tuesday night and joked that he is hoping the microphones will be “muted” when he plays with one of his team-mates and someone often equally vocal, Tyrrell Hatton, in the opening two rounds of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. In an exclusive interview with the The Scotsman at the Surrey venue, the Oban man also spoke about feeling apprehensive over the prospect of facing his in-form caddie, Mike Burrow, in some matches next week that will not only get him ready for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black but also form part of his preparation for two of next year’s majors. MacIntyre, who secured automatic qualification for the second match in a row against the Americans, is among 11 of the 12 players in Luke Donald’s European team set to defend the trophy in a fortnight’s time on Long Island teeing up in this week’s $8 million Rolex Series event near London. Donald used the opportunity to arrange a dinner earlier in the week for not only the players but also their wives and partners and their caddies as well, with MacIntyre revealing that it certainly got his juices flowing for the bid to record a first win on US soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012. “It was brilliant,” said the Oban man. “There were two long tables and everyone sat together and enjoyed some great food. It’s just getting everyone back together and enjoying themselves, but Luke also had a couple of speakers there that have helped him and various sports teams. “They were both great. One was a guy who works more in football and he spoke about penalty kicks and how it relates to what we can do as individuals. The other one was a guy who has helped Luke quite a bit when it comes to a team environment and how we can come together and how the team bond can help us if it is a tight match and how it can take us over the line. It was interesting. I got goosebumps when certain things were getting spoken about. It was like ‘this is a couple of weeks away’.” The 11 players in action in the DP World Tour’s flagship event will be joined by Wentworth absentee Sepp Straka for a pre-Ryder Cup visit to Bethpage Black next Monday and Tuesday before the team meet up again at the venue for the event’s 45th edition on Monday week. Donald has left it up to each individual to decide how they spend the gap in between provided it is in the US to avoid jetlag the following week, with MacIntyre revealing that he will take Wednesday and Thursday off before using two of the next three days with a dual purpose in mind. “Me and Mike [Burrow] have a couple of crunch matches,” said the 29-year-old of the man who picked up his bag last year and has helped him break into the world’s top ten for the first time in his career. “He just won the Scottish Mid-Amateur Championship (the Northumberland County player shot rounds of 72-73-71 at Southerness) and is in good form, so I am not really looking forward to playing him. “We are going to do some recce for the PGA Championship and the US Open next year at Aronimink and Shinnecock Hills. We will also play one of the best courses on the planet at Pine Valley, which I have never seen before. Simon Shanks (his swing coach) is also going to come out for those three days. Aye, Friday, Saturday and Sunday it is foot to the floor and graft hard. Monday will be a day off when we arrive at the Ryder Cup and then it is tournament week.” MacIntyre, who is among eight Scots in the field at Wentworth, will start his seventh appearance in the event in the company of Hatton, the 2020 champion, and 2023 winner Ryan Fox. “It’s a good group and I’m looking forward to it,” declared MacIntyre. “Hopefully they’ve got the microphones on mute for me and Tyrrell (laughing).” Could it be that Donald has paired the duo with a partnership in mind for the Ryder Cup? “Be a good amount of moaning, wouldn’t it?” joked Hatton of that possibility and it certainly shouldn’t be discounted, bearing in mind that MacIntyre played with Justin Rose in the opening two rounds here in 2023 before being paired with him in the fourballs in Rome. Two years on, MacIntyre has, in the eyes of both Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, established himself as “one of the best players in the world” and, not surprisingly, the left-hander is excited to be on the verge of playing in one of the world’s great sporting events as part of a strong-looking European team. “It’s a great team connection we’ve got,” said MacIntyre, who finished second behind Masters champion McIlroy in the year-long battle for six automatic spots. “We are lucky that it is 11 of the players from Rome and Rasmus [Hojgaard, who has replaced his twin brother Nicolai from the winning team at Marco Simone Golf] was there in Rome. It’s also pretty much all the same vice captains, so everything is pretty familiar. For me, personally, I feel more established and more comfortable in that environment.” All that is really missing as far MacIntyre’s 2025 season is concerned is a win and he’ll be giving it his all in an attempt to join three-time champion Colin Montgomerie, as well as Andrew Oldcorn and Scott Drummond in landing one of the most-coveted titles on the DP World Tour. “I’m here to try and compete and, ultimately, win this week, so hopefully I can go out there and play my golf and go into the weekend with a chance and throw the dice,” he said, though adding in his usual honest manner: “But all eyes are on the Ryder Cup!”