The US Open is scheduled for June 13th–19th, and golfers are making all their preparations to take the best shots in the third major of the season. The Scottish professional golfer, Robert MacIntyre, is no exception. His win at the RBC Canadian Open drew much attention when his familial bonds surfaced soon after. After an array of several caddie changes, MacIntyre called his father to take up the position urgently on a Saturday night at 8 o’clock.

The next Sunday, he dedicated his win to his father, Dougie, who caddied for him in the last round. But Dougie will not be seen with the young MacIntyre anymore inside the ropes; who is it that replaced Dougie for the upcoming US Open?

Robert MacIntyre is again pairing up with Mike Burrows for his second major participation this season. Burrows has caddied for MacIntyre since last October in quite a few events because his full-time golfer, the 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett is recovering from shoulder surgery. Burrows has also been MacIntyre’s caddie at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. However, he is only back to pair up with the Oban golfer since Willett will not be playing at Pinehurst. This, in turn, made him available for the 2024 RBC Canadian Open winner, Robert MacIntyre.

MacIntyre has previously stated that he is looking for a caddie who will have a better personality. He stated, “It’s not so much doing the job for me; it’s not so much the caddying part; it’s the personality. This week, my dad’s doing very little. He’s doing stuff to help me, but he’s doing very little. It’s just about having chats on the golf course. It’s not rocket science; it’s just a game of golf. Hit it where you’re aiming it, and just keep walking.”

Mike Burrows has not always wanted to be a caddie. He dreamed of playing professionally. However, Burrows realized his calling for the next big thing. He confessed in an interview with Dean Bailey for the Northern Golfer, “I’d always dreamed of being a tour player but just didn’t have the talent. The next best thing is carrying the bag. You get all the experience of being one of the best golfers in the world without having the talent.”

Mike Burrows is one of the respected caddies on the European Tour. Besides Danny Willett, Burrows has also stood next to the 28-year-old Chinese professional golfer, Haotong Li. He claimed the second runner-up position in the 2017 Open. However, in his career, the caddie has once cost a top golfer’s six-figure prize money.

Mike Burrow’s 2019 mistake

In 2019, Burrows continued to caddie for Haotong Li. However, he made a mistake that cost Li a third-place finish at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in Dubai. He mistakenly committed the infraction on the 18th hole in the final round of the event.

As per the newly made code of 2019, Golf Week presented the rule of 10.2b(4). It read that no caddie is allowed to “deliberately stand on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the player’s ball when the player begins taking a stance for the stroke and until the stroke is made.”

Mike Burrow broke this very rule at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. His misstep ended up with a penalty that cost Li two strokes and about nine places. Instead of his anticipated second runner-up position, Haotong Li was deemed to take up the 12th rank. His prize money was reduced from a humongous sum of $155,248 to only $51,722.

European Tour CEO Keith Pelley later stated, “Everyone I have spoken to about this believes, as I do, that there was no malice or intent from Li Haotong, nor did he gain any advantage from this or his caddie’s split-second actions.”

Do you think, with Burrow as his caddie again, Robert MacIntyre will have a better chance at this US Open? Let us know in the comments below.