There have been some startling sartorial statements at the Ryder Cup down the years. The American polo shirts during the 1999 match at Brookline, for instance, were so outrageously hideous, they just about prompted calls for the game of golf to be abolished.
To this dubious fashion show, we can now add the pyjamas of Robert MacIntyre after he uploaded a picture of himself on social media wearing the kind of garish robes that would make Liberace look like a sombre vicar. Less catwalk, more cat nap?
“I think they are beauties,” chuckled the Scot of his natty blue jimjams that are splattered with the European Ryder Cup badge.
“They were just gifts we got in the room the other night and I just put them on when I was brushing my teeth. I took a picture and sent it to Stoddy (his manager, Iain Stoddart) and a few others and they were like, ‘what the hell are those?’.”
In the calm before the Ryder Cup storm, MacIntyre, who makes his debut for Europe here at the Marco Simone club in Rome, is enjoying the lighter moments before the serious business starts. The 27-year-old is also enjoying the bountiful goodies that have come his way.
As a man with a renowned sweet tooth, his hotel room now resembles a vast Pick ‘n’ Mix. Who said professional sporty folk must maintain a strict diet of twigs, soil and steam?
“You get asked what you want in your room and you tell them bits and bobs but you’re thinking there’s no way they are going to have them in there,” he said of the MacIntyre rider. “But I walked in and there were so many sweets it was outrageous. There were Squashies, Twixes, Kinder Buenos, the lot. I was expecting that, as we are meant to be athletes, they won’t hit us with all the sweeties, but it’s been brilliant.”
MacIntyre may have been deluged by all manner of freebies, favours, chomps and chews but the Oban lefty is dishing out some generous gifts of his own. His progression through the golfing ranks, and his rise into the shimmering pantheon of a Ryder Cup player, has been a real team effort. For family and friends, this week is a reward for the part they have played in MacIntyre’s journey.
“For me, I’ve had a lot of people support me from amateur stuff as I travelled from A to B when my parents couldn’t afford to travel all the time,” he said. “So, for the people who have sacrificed a lot, I decided that I was going to phone them and see if they wanted to be here.
"Obviously they said ‘yes’ so I booked a big house for them and booked some flights. There have been so many people that have helped me. While I couldn’t get all of them here, I gave it my best shot.
“The other night, we all got videos from our families and stuff. I was in tears. It was my mum who spoke on it. Normally, she’s a tough nut to crack, but she was very soft and it was just brilliant. That makes you realise the hard work and the effort that has gone into getting me to this point.”
At this stage of a long, drawn-out week, everybody is eager to get started. Players tend to be like coiled springs waiting go, well, ‘boing’. For MacIntyre, there remains a tranquillity before the tumult.
“I'm as calm as ever just now,” said the two-time DP World Tour winner, who is the first Scot since Stephen Gallacher in 2014 to don the European colours. “I actually said to my family at the start of the week, ‘do you know, I've not got the nerves yet’. I think that’s because of the team environment. it's very much what I'm comfortable in.
"The proper buzz hasn’t hit me yet. But on Thursday night, when I know it's coming, I think the excitement will pick up and the nerves will really start to hit. Nothing's going to prepare me for that first tee shot. This is bigger than anything I've ever been involved in.”
Perhaps some ambient music in the team room will calm those building nerves? “I like my real teuchter, ceilidh stuff so I don’t think they’ll let me control the music,” he chortled.
If Europe win back the Ryder Cup, his team-mates won’t care what’s blaring out.
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