Honest Bob MacIntyre admits he thought he’d won the US Open. But the bullish Scot believes he now heads to next month’s Open bang on target for his Major moment after being agonisingly denied glory at Oakmont. The Scottish star came spectacularly close to a phenomenal triumph before he was thwarted by JJ Spaun’s fabulous finale. MacIntyre defied brutal conditions, Sunday rain delays and pressure to move to the brink of the title and believed his time had come when, as he ended his final round joint top of the leaderboard, closest rivals were falling away one-by-one. The Tartan ace looked to be on course for a monumental win with the clubhouse target set before a scintillating Spaun finish including a monster putt on his 72nd green of the tournament ripped the Oban ace’s hands off the silverware. But, despite the natural disappointment at narrowly missing out, MacIntyre is taking massive positives from the best-ever Major display and insists it only offers even more to his belief that success in one of the game’s big-four events is within his grasp. He said: “Aye, it does. That’s the toughest test I’ve ever encountered on a golf course. That’s as hard as it gets. “Obviously finishing sixth in The Open at Royal Portrush [in 2019] was my best finish but it was a back-door effort, so to speak, due to the weather and stuff. “But this was different. There’s no reason why I can’t win a major championship in my career and that’s my goal now. I said I wanted to win the Scottish Open and I got that. I thought I had this one, to be honest with you, but, yeah, I just want to win Majors now.” MacIntyre’s ascent through the golfing ranks since that brilliant Open showing six years ago has been stunning with impressively big steps being taken in the past two years. Having played a crucial role in helping Europe to win the Ryder Cup in Rome towards the end of 2023, he backed it up with magical wins at the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open through last year. MacIntyre will now go back to Northern Ireland for the Claret Jug charge as a huge contender to win the cherished prize. It’s been a hectic rise and he said: “It is satisfying to think about that and I can’t wait to go back to somewhere I love and enjoy playing as much as I do when it comes to Portrush. “So much has happened for me in the last year and I keep saying that I don’t know when I am going to be able to sit down and actually think about what we have achieved in the last year. "It keeps coming and keeps coming and keeps coming. But it’s not from the lack of effort.”