After a T3 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, Robert MacIntyre arrived at The Open hoping to carry that momentum into golf’s oldest major. The Scot teed off at Royal Birkdale on Thursday, but his opening round got off to an unusual start. Initially, MacIntyre refused to hit his opening shot until a drone hovering overhead had moved away. And later in the round, the hot mic captured his foul-mouthed remark. Speaking to the media later, the 29-year-old explained why he insisted on the delay. 

“I could hear it coming in, and I’m like, please, just keep flipping over the top of me, and it just sat above me. Then they announced me on the tee, and I was like, I’m not hitting until that drone is out of the way. I don’t know who spoke to it, but someone did. I knew from the practice days this was going to be a real test of my patience, real test of my mind, and I thought I done a great job.”

In case you missed the action, the Scottish golfer’s name was announced first, and he was ready to take his tee shot. However, before he could, he heard the camera buzzing over him. This prompted him to back off the tee and gesture up to the sky, as he refused to play until the camera moved. For a few moments, he just stood there with the caddie.

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But MacIntyre’s message was eventually received, and he stepped back up to the tee and took the shot down the fairway. Robert faced a low point late on the 18th hole and couldn’t hide his frustration. He hit a good drive that landed in the fairway, but his second shot from 242 yards curved too far to the left and ended up in the rough beside the green.  

The hot mic picked up MacIntyre telling his caddie, “Such a s— golf hole, innit? It really is.” Despite that, he shot a strong 3-under 67 in the opening round at Royal Birkdale. This places him among the early tournament leaders. His day included 13 pars, 4 birdies, and only 1 bogey after the matter with the drone was resolved. 

Notably, keeping his emotions in check has been a struggle for the Scotsman long before the Open began.

Remember, during the first round of the 2026 Masters, the Scottish golfer was reprimanded after making an obscene middle-finger gesture toward the 15th green in frustration. The incident occurred during a nightmarish opening round. MacIntyre hit two shots into the water on the par-five 15th, leading to a quadruple bogey. Following the outburst, he faced possible disciplinary action from Augusta National’s strict committee and ultimately missed the cut. And with R&A’s new code of conduct, more disciplinary action at the Open is a real possibility. 

But MacIntyre wasn’t the only player disrupted by the drone on Thursday’s opening round of The Open Championship. Former World No. 1 Jordan Spieth encountered a similar issue on the third tee. As he prepared to hit his tee shot on the 450-yard par-4, Spieth heard the buzzing overhead, paused, and pointed toward the drone along with his caddie. 

Play resumed only after the drone moved away. According to reports, a marshal also contacted officials to confirm whether the R&A was operating the drone and not a spectator. Since then, the drone has not appeared to cause any further disruption.