A weekly newspaper handed over its front and back pages to celebrate a hometown hero’s stunning Ryder Cup debut.

Robert MacIntyre went into last weekend’s event as an unfancied rookie but emerged unbeaten aftrer scoring 2.5 points out of a possible three to help Europe win back the coveted trophy.

Now his local paper the Oban Times has produced a special souvenir cover to mark the 27-year-old’s achievements.

Its coverage included an exclusive with First Minister Humza Yusaf, who labeled local golfer Bob MacIntyre ‘the pride of Scotland’ as well as a host of exclusive digital coverage over the three-day tournament.

Head of online content Brian Hossack said: “It’s not every day that a wee place like Oban will have someone playing in the Ryder Cup – and Bob did us all proud.

“We wanted to make sure our readers would be able to keep right up to date with his exploits in Rome for Team Europe so we ran live feeds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to make sure that nobody missed a moment of Bob’s debut.

“We followed every shot with analysis, comment and some colour thrown in for good measure. We may have been a little partisan, but if ever there was a time for it, this was it!

“The whole town, in fact the whole of Scotland, has been looking forward to cheering Bob on – and as his local title we knew we had to be right at the forefront of that coverage.

“Our live coverage did record audience numbers for us, with people logged on from all over the world. We had new readers logging on from places as far flung as St Bart’s and Christchurch, as well as all over America, the UK and Europe, so our content certainly seemed to capture people’s imagination.”

“A big shout also to our reporter Mark McSherry for being fast on his feet and getting the chat withScotland’s top politician when he visited the area about what Bob’s achievements mean to the whole country – it was a great example of having boots on the ground and making the most of the unique opportunities that deliver for our readers.

“Our digital trainee Finn Nixon also did a fantastic job on our social channels, with his posts reaching well over a million people, which for a town the size of Oban is quite something.

“We are already looking forward to doing it all again in two years’ time when Bob makes the team to go over to New York and defend the Ryder Cup.”

The Oban Times’ coverage was shared across its Wyxex Media sister titles, including the Argyllshire Advertiser, Campbeltown Courier and Lochaber Times.