THE MODERATOR: Robert MacIntyre joins us now at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Robert, welcome to your second Ryder Cup.
We'll jump right into questions.
Q. Not as big as the matches you've got coming up the next three days, but how did you get on with Mike Burrows in your warm-up matches?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: 2-1 victory. No, it was great fun. Good time to get down and see courses for next year, Aronomink and obviously Shinnecock and then a little treat at Pine Valley.
No, it was great fun. Good prep. Obviously my coach, Simon, came over. It's been good work coming back here.
Q. How do you feel your role has been in the team room this time compared to two years ago?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: I don't think it's changed at all. I think my comfort levels within the team has changed. Last time, obviously, I was playing mainly on the European Tour. You're stepping into a room of guys like Rory, Jon, Rosey. But thankfully egos go out the window when you go into that European team room. Everyone comes together.
I'm a lot more comfortable this year than I was last year. It was a little bit daunting last time. No, they made you feel welcome then. Now it feels like we've got a better bond.
Q. Just curious, other than the obvious with Rory on the golf course, what does he bring to this team? What does he mean to this team beyond the obvious?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: I mean, I'm not sure. He's a leader. He's potentially the greatest European golfer of all time. I mean, these things speak for themselves.
I've looked up to him since I was young, and I've got no problem walking behind Rory McIlroy if he's leading the charge. He's a guy that's special to the game of golf but very special to the European side.
Q. When you have like a big putt to halve a hole or win a match or the first tee shot, what is literally going through your brain? Are you thinking a swing thought? Are you thinking about nothing? What is going on in there?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: It depends. It depends on the situation. It depends on how you're feeling. It depends on a lot of things. It can -- look, we've got things to handle different situations. And yeah, it just varies. There's not one way that fits all. It's very much for that moment. Sometimes it can be a positive thought. It the can be something you say to yourself. It can be an outside thing that Mike, my caddie, can do to help me.
So yeah, look, there's lots of different kind of strategies to deal with that.
Q. How have you prepared to handle what kind of crowd reaction you're going to get this week? Did you get more value from the VR set or from the weekend at Caves Valley?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: No, I just played golf. The crowds are here to watch us at the end of the day, whether they are for you or against you.
I must say at that Opening Ceremony last night, there was a lot of European fans. And yeah, look, it's going to be what it is and my job is to go and play good golf, same as the rest of the European guys, and if we do our jobs well, then we'll be happy.
Q. Are you prepared to putt blinders on, earmuffs, whatever?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: Just go do our job. We can't control them. I can control me. I can control what happens within our group. So, yeah, I've heard a few things before. I'll hear a few things this week. But I suppose it's part of the game.
Q. The captain has spoken this week about this being your time and this being your place and that type of thing as mottos. We know how proud you are as a Scotsman. How important is it for you to follow in those? I think six Scots lads have come over here and been part of teams that have won. What does it mean, the inspiration and being one of them?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: We've talked about a lot of things this week, and I just think what an opportunity we've got as a team to do something special, to do something that will go down in history. But again, there's three days of golf. Three long days of golf. If we just control what we can control, we'll be just fine.
Look, there's so much trust going into every part of the week, every part of the team from the players to the vices, to caddies, to partners, to backroom staff, everything. There's no stone unturned. At the end of the day now it's about go out there and perform. I feel like if we do that well, we're going to be happy at the end of the week.
Q. Everyone knows the importance of family to you, so this is an extension of it?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: Look, the European side, when I went in in Rome, I didn't know what to expect. But I've come in here knowing what to expect. I mean, the minute you walk in that team room, it is just -- it's as though you've known each other since you were young kids. It's a different -- I've played team sports all my life and it's the same feeling that you get on a bus trip home from a shinty match as you get when you walk in that team room. There's a real family feel. A real togetherness. Yeah, we're on one mission.
Q. At the risk of cliché, is there anything that you think you learned about yourself at the last Ryder Cup that has changed your positioning in the game?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: I just think I learned that I can compete at the top level of golf. I learned so much from equipment side of it. I changed pretty much all my equipment since Rome and I feel like my game has progressed.
There's still little things that I feel like I can improve. But I just learned that I can compete at that level. I had a great partner in Rosey at the last one. But yeah I think the last two seasons on the PGA TOUR have helped me massively to be on this team and to be where I am in the world of golf.
Yeah, let the fun begin.
Q. Donald Trump is proud of his Scottish heritage. As a Scot, how do you feel about him coming to watch tomorrow?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: Again, I just play golf. I don't -- politics and stuff is out of my -- I mean, I'm not bright enough, for one, to be worrying about politics. I'm worrying more about what goes on this week on the golf course.
Yeah, as a European, we've got a job to do, and yeah, try and compete as hard as we can and hopefully win the Ryder Cup.
Q. So you don't find it a distraction?
ROBERT MacINTYRE: It's just another spectator.
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