As relaxing and fun as Carnoustie is supposed to be, things kept getting intense for the friends Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton in the very opening round. Yesterday, we reported how Hatton tried his slashing skills on the bunker of a historic course, damaging it. But with much of the game left to play, intensity only snowballed.

On the 8th hole at the Dunhill Links Championship, MacIntyre went too far right with his shot. Not liking what he saw, he let out an expletive-filled rant towards the camera. He even smashed his club into the tee box. A similar thing happened on the 18th hole, too, and escalated to the point that a referee had to step in. But apparently, the Scot’s problem was not his own shots, but a problem that just won’t leave him alone.

“It drives me insane,” MacIntyre said about a drone flying close to him. “I mean they don’t need to be so close. I mean, my camera’s got enough zoom from how close they were to be able to see the golf shot.”

The drones first tested his patience at the 8th hole, when he had stepped off the shot. He spoke to the DP World Tour rules official, but when he returned, he could still hear the drone. He still managed to save the par before a bogey on the next hole. But the 18th hole already had him frustrated.

MacIntyre walked into the final hole of the day after a bogey on the 16th. Already trying to improve his standing, the Scot could again hear the drone flying too close to him to concentrate. With tempers flaring, he let it all out at a camera operator to the point that a DPWT rules official had to step in.

“I was just asking him what’s going on because they’ve obviously heard me swear a few times straight at the camera guy,” he said of what he is expecting next from the organizers. “We’ll see what the tournament director’s got to say.”

“The problem is when they’re staying still, it’s fine. But it’s obviously buffeting from the wind, and it’s trying to stay in position. It’s like a revving of a car right where you’re trying to hit. So, when they’re too close in these conditions, I struggle with it.”

To stay in place, a drone keeps adjusting its rotor speeds, and in gusts the corrections get bigger and faster, so the pitch keeps shifting. A shifting buzz is harder to tune out than a steady hum. But the sound is the problem, as was obvious with how his day ended.

He had to step off on the 18th as well because he could not commit to the shot with the buzzing in his ears. He again saved himself, ending the day one-under-par 71 with two bogeys.

And while he gets that they are required to broadcast, which ultimately brings in the money, his issue is the distance. His solution? Just zoom in! But he may have one specific reason why it’s bothering him at such a relaxing tournament as well.

MacIntyre reveals why he is more frustrated this time around, shares his next steps

“Life is different,” MacIntyre had said ahead of the Dunhill Links Championship about his managing time after welcoming his son in January this year. “I really have to manage my time better. I’ve not done that well enough, probably in the last, probably three, four months.

“I’ve been all over the place, I think. Doing X, Y and Z, performing on the golf course. I’ve spoken to everyone about it. Certain things have been put in place going forward.”

MacIntyre is not playing well since the first round and stands outside the top 20 on Day 3.

“It’s just the way I’m playing golf this year, this today,” he said. “There’s so much good in there, but then I walk off one under par and it’s OK, but it’s just not the level I want to be at.

“It’s fine just now, I need to go away and fix it.”

However, it won’t be the first time MacIntyre is raising an issue with the machine.

MacIntyre continues his war against the machines while DPWT finds an answer

Before winning the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, he complained about drone noise during the final round and asked a rules official to step in. A similar incident occurred in the first round of The Open Championship this year.

“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,” MacIntyre said. “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.”

Interestingly, fans watching golf on TV, in fact, want the coverage to improve. However, DPWT does not have any rule in place for either the players showing their frustrations for the specific reason or how close the drones can fly.

One fix could be to put a number on the problem. The DP World Tour could impose a minimum distance between the drone and the player, wider when it’s windy, since gusts turn a hum into a racket. With a set figure, crews and players stop haggling mid-round, and both know where the line sits.

The tour could also keep a simple record of each incident, noting how close the drone was, what the wind was doing, and whether the player backed off or hit a bad shot.

Even a few rounds of that would show if trouble really starts when the drone is nearest. If the numbers point that way, a rule would then have evidence behind it. If they don’t, coverage carries on as before, and proximity at least has a proper answer. For now, MacIntyre will clearly need to find a way to manage his anger and mute the outside noise.