Robert MacIntyre Flies Home On Budget Airline After Ryder Cup Heroics

Being part of a winning Ryder Cup team in your rookie appearance must go down as one of, if not the, biggest high of a player’s career. 

Robert MacIntyre certainly took advantage of that feeling by leading a chorus of 500 Miles as part of Team’s Europe’s celebration party following the win at Marco Simone.

However, it is probably safe to say that the comedown the following day can be tricky to navigate, and for the Scot, it looked like a particularly arduous task if an image of him shared by the official Ryder Cup Europe X (formerly Twitter) account is anything to go by.

That’s because, the morning after what appeared to have the makings of a party for the ages, MacIntyre was photographed looking somewhat sleep-deprived at the airport as he awaited his flight back to Glasgow. Not only that, but the two-time DP World Tour winner, who claimed an impressive 2.5 points for the Europeans at the match, used budget airline Jet2.com to take him!

Given MacIntyre’s heroics in the Ryder Cup have surely elevated him to the highest profile in his career, not to mention his potentially delicate state following the team’s celebrations, you wouldn't blame him if that was a decision he regretted while waiting at the gate for his departure.

In fairness to MacIntyre, though, he certainly doesn’t appear the type to be affected by fame, and, according to the DP World Tour’s Ru Macdonald, his decision to travel on a no-frills airline is unsurprising. 

He responded to the image, writing: “Bob paid for all his friends and family’s travel and accommodation last week. Despite all the heroics, he was always jumping on the Jet2 flight with those people that have supported him from the beginning.”

There is more evidence to support the claim that MacIntyre is as down to earth as they come, too. In 2022, when huge sums of money were being mentioned in the build-up to the launch of LIV Golf, MacIntyre was not drawn in by the allure of it, saying it was "obscene money to be throwing at sport.”

He also said: “For me right now, I’m comfortable. I’ve got a house, a home, my family is healthy. I’ve got a car I can drive. I have clothes I can put on and I can still treat myself and my family. What do I need? Just now, I’m as happy as I can be in the life of Robert MacIntyre.”

When you consider the week he’s just had, you’d have to admit he has a great point. Not only that, but his week ahead looks pretty fulfilling, too. That’s because he can expect a hero's welcome as one of the bigger names in the field for the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship taking place in Scotland at three of its most famous courses, The Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

MacIntyre isn’t the only player to use a humble means of travelling home after a successful week. Earlier in the year, Tom Hoge flew coach home to Texas after winning $1.5m at TPC Sawgrass in The Players Championship.