After what he called a “stressful” final round at The Players Championship on Sunday, Robert MacIntyre withdrew from this week’s Valspar Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla.
The Scotland native, and ninth-ranked player in the world, shot a 3-under-par 69 in the final round at TPC Sawgrass to finish alone in fourth place at 10 under in The Players. He finished three shots behind winner Cameron Young.
MacIntyre’s chip from the rough at No. 16 bounced in front of the green then rolled entirely off the massive putting surface and into the water to essentially end his bid for a victory. It was one his two bogeys over the final five holes.
“No, it was stressful,” said McIntyre, who was the runner-up at the U.S Open last year. “I was actually struggling to eat early on the back nine. … Obviously, last year was a big kind of wake-up call for me in order to know that I can really compete at the top end of world golf.”
No official reason was given for MacIntyre backing out of the tournament. He was replaced by Andrew Putnam.
PGA Tour rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Canada and Keith Mitchell also withdrew from this week’s tournament. They will be replaced by Kris Ventura and Doug Ghim, respectively.
Yellamaraju finished in a tie for fifth at The Players, shooting 9 under for the tournament, including a final-round 4-under 68.
Seven of the top-20 players in the world are entered at the Valspar Championship, which is being held just outside of the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Included in the field is defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway, as well as Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.
Schauffele finished third at The Players, while Thomas tied for eighth in his second tournament since returning from back surgery.
