Robert MacIntyre’s share of fourth in the Italian Open on Sunday has led to the Oban left-hander becoming the leading Scottish player on the world golf rankings.

The 23-year-old, who has also broken into the top-10 of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai for the first time, has overtaken the long-term standard bearer, Russell Knox, on the order at No 86. Knox now sits two places behind his upwardly mobile compatriot at No 88.

MacIntyre’s rapid rise has been a real tonic for Scottish golf. This time last year, the former Walker Cup player was 507th in the world but he has hit the ground running since winning promotion from the second-tier Challenge Tour at the end of the 2018 campaign.

The Herald:

Three second place finishes on the main tour, as well as a sixth place finish on his debut in The Open, have propelled him up the global standings.

MacIntyre had been just two shots off the lead heading into the final day of the Italian Open but, after an early birdie, his challenge was derailed with a haul of three bogeys.

READ MORE: MacIntyre is a fine work in progress on the tour

Despite slithering out of contention, MacIntyre kept battling on and a brace of birdies at 15 and 16 hauled him onto an 11-under aggregate of 273.

That gave the former Scottish Amateur champion a top-five finish – his best in a Rolex Series event -  and a cheque for over £235,000.

 

At the head of the field, Bernd Wiesberger held off the challenge of England's Matthew Fitzpatrick to claim his third win of the season

The Austrian carded a bogey-free 65 in Rome to overturn a three-shot deficit and beat overnight leader Fitzpatrick by one - condemning the 2016 Ryder Cup star to a fifth runners-up finish of the 2019 campaign worldwide.