Keeping his temper in check has always been a struggle for Robert MacIntyre. The Scottish pro flipped his middle finger on the par-five 15th hole during the nightmarish opening round at the 2026 Masters. And he showed another angry tantrum during the opening round of The Open Championship. But what makes him angry? MacIntyre hinted that it’s his mindset after finishing the second round of The Open.

“I mean, I’m not nice to myself. I’ll be honest, I’m not nice to myself. That’s just the standard I set.”

MacIntyre has set the bar high for himself.

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This Should Be an Easy One, Right?

01/10

How Many Players Are Within Five Strokes of the Lead After R1?

59394015

Oops, bogey!

But don’t worry, there’s still the back 9 to prove your high golf IQ

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“When I make a mistake, it’s one of those like we just switched off. I felt like for a couple of holes, we switched off. I had it in — you’re not really getting fliers out of this rough because it’s not green, it’s not lush. So when you’re hitting it, it’s kind of breaking up on you. I feel it when I’m picking the stuff up to throw the grass up, you’ve hardly got any of it in your hand. It’s just like dust.” he explained.

“When you go into that stuff, you’re not really getting fliers. I think it was 6; it was just a fraction of green. The first thing I said was, this is going to fly, and I didn’t trust it. I’ve played it to come out normal with lots of spin, and it’s come out flying. It’s long left, but it’s an okay mess. That was when I really had to reset what I was doing. We really had to switch on, to be honest, because it was getting — it got out of hand.”

This isn’t an isolated statement. He said the same after the 2025 BMW Championship. When asked about losing his lead but staying competitive against Scottie Scheffler at the event, he revealed he was talking to himself on the 15th hole and that he “wasn’t nice to” himself until that point.

This time, he had a frustration outburst on the 18th hole of the opening round at The Open. He birdied the first two holes, a good start despite a bogey on the par-4 8th. He then added two more birdies on the 12th and 14th. Things looked good until he reached the 18th.

On the par-4 18th, MacIntyre’s drive landed in the fairway, but his second shot curved too far to the left, landing in the rough beside the green. That’s when the hot mic caught him telling his caddie, “such a s— hole.”

He had a similar frustrating incident at the 2026 Sony Open. After missing a putt, he snapped his putter in frustration. After the event, he admitted he had behavioral issues.

“Doing that cost me a shot. My attitude cost me this golf tournament, and I can’t allow that,” he said during the post-round conference. “Big, big reminder for me that attitude has got to be right for 72 holes, not just 36.”

MacIntyre’s emotional volatility can look like passion when he rebounds with pars. However, it also becomes a discipline issue when it draws attention from officials.

His passion and standards have gotten him into a good position heading into the weekend.

Robert MacIntyre got candid about the weekend at The Open

The Scottish pro carded rounds of 3-under 67 and 1-under 69 and is currently tied for 8th on the leaderboard. This gives him a genuine opportunity to win his breakthrough major title.

“Yeah, great spot. Can’t really be in a better spot going into the weekend. It’s where I want to be, especially after last week with the game. I feel like the game’s in a good spot. I’m missing it in the right spots, the short game sharp, putting’s decent. Just maybe hit a few more greens when it’s like this and make life a little bit easier,” he said when asked if he is looking forward to the weekend.

At the 2026 Scottish Open, he finished tied for third, sharing the spot with several players, including Matt Fitzpatrick. He missed the trophy by four strokes, and the final round made all the difference: he shot 69, while winner Kim shot 64. That was the second time he missed the top spot by this margin.

MacIntyre doesn’t want to repeat that mistake here. But we all know how anger and frustration can impair one’s judgement.