Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
A number of golfers saw their hopes of winning The Masters essentially dashed after getting off to a rough start at Augusta National on Thursday. That included Robert MacIntyre, who was reprimanded by officials after multiple outbursts during a brutal round he’d probably like to forget.
There aren’t many sports that have the ability to humble you on a more regular basis than golf, and it can be very difficult to keep your cool if you find your game falling apart while you’re hitting the links.
Plenty of weekend hacks take out their frustration by swearing and throwing the occasional club, but people who play for a living tend to be able to exercise a bit more self-restraint when things aren’t going their way despite the fact that the stakes are infinitely higher at tournaments where a single stroke can be the difference between hundreds of thousands (and even millions) of dollars.
With that said, it’s not necessarily rare to see the pros lose their cool on the course, and certain guys have a reputation for crashing out more often than others. That includes Robert MacIntyre, who got pulled into the proverbial principal’s office at Augusta National after losing his composure multiple times over the course of his opening round at The Masters.
Robert MacIntyre was reprimanded for swearing and flipping the bird while shooting an 80 during his first round at The Masters
The patrons who head to Augusta National for The Masters are expected to be on their best behavior, and that’s also the case for the golfers who’ve earned the right to compete in the hallowed major.
Last year, Jose Ballester caused a bit of a stir when he candidly admitted to urinating in Rae’s Creek after nature called during his first competitive round at the tournament, and he went out of his way to apologize to the powers that be after that move sparked some fairly dramatic calls for his disqualification.
There weren’t any bodily fluids involved in the drama we were treated to after the first round of The Masters in 2026, but we still managed to get some courtesy of MacIntyre, who repeatedly made it clear he was not thrilled with how he was playing after kicking off his fourth appearance at the tournament.
The Scotsman finished in a tie for 12th during his debut in 2021, and he headed into 2026 hoping to bounce back after missing the cut last year. However, it does not appear that is going to be the case, as he rolled up to the clubhouse on Thursday with an 80 on his scorecard with the help of the quadruple bogey he recorded on the 15th.
MacIntyre shot a 9 after putting two consecutive shots in the water in front of the green, and he responded to the first miscue by flipping a middle finger in the direction of the pond.
@bobdoessports Rob MacIntyre is all of us, giving the finger to hole 15th #masters #golf pic.twitter.com/KWUspi7Vsk
— Gamaliel Rosado 🇵🇷 (@gamarosado) April 9, 2026
That lapse in judgment came during a round where he also slammed his club a couple of times and a microphone captured him swearing after shots that didn’t go as he’d hoped on the 12th and 13th holes.
According to The Scotsman, the 29-year-old (who declined to speak to the media after the round) got a talking to from officials at Augusta National following those outbursts, as they reprimanded him for his behavior during a conversation where he was “reminded about a code of conduct.”
He was permitted to return on Friday, but he quickly added two strokes to his total with a double bogey on the first hole and will all but certainly be missing the cut.