Erik van Rooyen’s hopes of playing in the Open Championship evaporated on Sunday as he battled his way to a four-over-par 74 in the closing round of the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.

The top three players who made the cut and were not otherwise exempt into the final major championship of the year at Royal Troon gained starts, and, although Van Rooyen was very much in that conversation, three bogeys and just a single birdie on the front nine all but put paid to his chances.

He had a double-bogey six on the 11^th, followed by a bogey on 12 and all he could do then was try to plug the holes on his leaking scorecard. He birdied 17, but he slipped 31 places down the leaderboard into a share of 39^th on eight-under.

Having been very much in contention when he started the day at 12-under, he had to watch from afar as local hero Robert MacIntyre produced a stretch for the ages to pip Adam Scott of Australia by one with his 18-under-par total.

MacIntyre went birdie-par-eagle-par-birdie for the final five holes to grab an exhilarating win which had seemed out of reach when he sank to one-over for his final round with a bogey on the 10^th. Instead, an unlikely 41-footer for birdie on the par-three 14^th ignited a charge that eventually produced a title that was sure to cause a mighty hangover. “I’m going to celebrate this with my family, friends, and everyone here. I’m going to celebrate this one hard. We’ll pitch up to The Open when we pitch up to The Open,” laughed MacIntyre afterwards.

His eagle on 16 came from a slice of good fortune, as his metal spiked-shoes allowed him to notice that his stance in thick rough right of the fairway on the par-five had him om a sprinkler head. The relief he was granted from that position saw him send his approach soaring to just outside six feet, and the eagle putt never looked like missing.

With the veteran Scott watching from the players’ lounge, MacIntyre sent his approach from the right semi-rough on 18 to inside 25 feet and his birdie putt rolled in with its last gasp to give him his most cherished title – so far.

MacIntyre had been saying all week that Scotland’s national open was the “one I want” following his 2023 heartbreak when he birdied the last after a remarkable second only to see McIlroy make a gain at the 17^th and then produce some magic of his own to deny him at the death.