Bob who? With all due respect to Bob MacIntyre, that was the question being asked by most people other than us Scots when the Oban man made his major debut in The Open at Royal Portrush. Six years on, having used a promising performance that week as the springboard, he’s back on the County Antrim coast as a genuine contender in the Claret Jug event, as illustrated by his inclusion on the pre-event media interview schedule. Following on from Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on Monday and before Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau came after him on Tuesday, MacIntyre delivered some nuggets to an audience around the world. Especially so when he’d talked about feeling frustrated at the end of his Genesis Scottish Open title defence at The Renaissance Club on Sunday and was asked how he decompressed in such situations. “Yeah, I'm pretty good at telling everyone ‘give me an hour’,” he said, smiling. “I can go as mental as I want for an hour, and, after that, I just go back to life.” In truth, that was always going to merit a follow-up question and he was, indeed, asked what he meant by going “mental” by his original inquisitor. “I can do whatever I want for an hour. Just anything I want,” he replied. “You can break things. You can literally do whatever I want for an hour. “After that hour is gone, my job's done. For an hour and a half before my round, two hours before my round, I'm preparing, so nobody gets in my way. It's warmup, stretching, gym work, all of that. So there's a five-, six-, seven-, eight-hour window that I'm working. “If you have a bad day at work, you're going to be annoyed. It happens more often than not for me as well (laughing). It's just about once that's gone. It's been difficult in the past for me to reset, but, nowadays, there's so many golf tournaments and you don't know what's coming the next week.” Having some fire in his belly could be the difference, of course, in making that next step in his bid to become a major winner. “I'm fiery on the golf course when I'm in tournament rounds,” he went on. “I'll drop a few bad words in there. I'll hit the bag. I'll say some harsh things, but that's what gets me going. “If I walk around and I'm all happy I just made a double bogey or people are clapping, thanks very much, that's not me. I'm needing to smash something up. I want to rip a glove. I do something to get that anger out. It's better out than in for me. Some people it's better holding it, but for me it's get it out and then just do not let it affect the next shot. Simple.” MacIntyre was in his DP World Tour rookie season when he arrived here in 2019, having recorded two second-place finishes in the opening half of the campaign. A missed cut in the Scottish Open was a big disappointment, but, helped by an opening 68 then another one to finish, he ended up in a tie for sixth behind Shane Lowry in his first taste of the Claret Jug joust. “Yeah, it was tough standing on that first tee, the nerves,” he recalled of that debut. “You've always dreamed of playing in this event. You've watched it on TV since you were a young kid. I got to just live another dream. “I got a little bit lucky when I managed to finish in just the proper time when the storm came in in 2019 (on the final day). I remember sitting in player dining, and it just kept blowing. I thought the roof was coming off the place. I was just like ‘keep coming, keep coming’. I was just watching it, watching me get further up the leaderboard. It's a different week this week, but I’m looking forward to it.” Having been glad that his ferry crossing on Monday had been “nice and calm” after fearing he might be sea sick, MacIntyre was joined for his practice round on Tuesday by the three other Scots in the field - HotelPlanner Tour player Daniel Young and amateur duo Cameron Adam and Connor Graham. “I'm going to go and play 18 because yesterday, the beautiful sunshine, we couldn't get out,” he said in a sarcastic tone of heavy showers sweeping in from the west. “Yeah, 18 holes today, and I'll give them any advice they want. If they ask for it, I'll give them advice. If they don't, that's fine, I'm going to prepare the same as I've tried to every week. Going to try and win The Open.” The 28-year-old came close, of course, in last month’s US Open at Oakmont, where he posted the clubhouse target in the final round before J.J. Spaun produced a brilliant birdie-birdie finish to pip him in Pennsylvania. “I thought it was an absolute brilliant effort,” said McIntyre of his week’s work there. “When I finished, I thought, if someone beats that, fair play, and J.J. played better during the week. For me, that's as good a performance as I can put in a round on probably the hardest golf course on the planet that we play.” For MacIntyre, his favourite links layout in the world is the one he’s playing this week, with only minor tweaks having been made to it since six years ago. “It's how the golf course flows,” he said of what appeals to him so much, having first tackled it when he was an amateur in the Home Internationals and liking the changes that have been made since then. “It's not nine holes one way, nine holes the other way. There is everything on this golf course visually. It's obviously enclosed by the dunes either side, so you've got visuals off the tee. As newly-designed golf holes in the modern game, I think these are as good as it gets when they've been redesigned. So many golf courses try to trick it up. Here, I just think the whole golf course is absolutely beautiful to the eye but it also plays absolutely brilliantly. You've got holes that you've got a chance, and then you've got holes that you just try to hang on.” Given how far he’s come in those six years, it’s no surprise whatsoever that the left-hander has been mentioned by some as a potential winner this week but, while flattered by that, it’s business as usual. “Yeah, people may have picked me to win it, but, to be honest, there are so many guys this week that can win this tournament,” he said, smiling. “I'm going to go out there and enjoy playing Royal Portrush again and give it my absolute best - and that's all I can guarantee.”