The heavy work has been done and for Shane Lowry, standing under the old oak tree outside the clubhouse here at Augusta National Golf Club, its all about managing the run-in; there will be a couple of further nine holes of practice, the Par 3 – with wife Wendy and daughters Iris and Ivy caddying – and, really, letting his head-space focus on the task ahead.
Let’s just say that Lowry, already, seems to be in a good place. Relaxed, very much at ease. His Monday’s work involved playing a few holes on the front nine with Séamus Power and amateur Matt McClean, but, in truth, it was a rather more serious outing with Rory McIlroy last Thursday which probably got all the moving parts going in sync.
“Rory texted me early last week, said he was coming down so I thought, ‘why not?’ It’s better to practice up here as to practice at home (in Florida). We had the course to ourselves, played like a 5½-hours practice, chipped and putted to every green from last year, we had all the pins. Just the two of us. It was lovely,” admitted Lowry, who is looking to follow on from last year’s tied-third place finish where only winner Scottie Scheffler and runner-up McIlroy finished ahead of him.
Of course even with the increased comfort level from his 2022 result and increased familiarity with the course (he and his brother Alan also hooked up with McIlroy and NFL superstar Tom Brady for a round last month), Lowry is only too aware the game changes come the announcer’s introduction on the first tee on Thursday:
“Last year was nice but you don’t have a god-given right to come here and play well. You still have to do everything right and get a bit of luck along the way. I step on tee boxes now and I see my shots, and I see my shots on the greens. I have even got a new caddie (Darren Reynolds) here this year and we were talking a lot about it today, how I see my way around this golf course pretty well. It is about being aggressive to your spots and pulling it off.”
Lowry’s results coming in this year don’t match those of a year ago when he drove up Magnolia Drive with a high degree of confidence that manifested itself in the tournament.
“My results have not been great but when I sit down and think about it I am not far away, three out of four good rounds in weeks, stuff like that. I have not done certain things well that I would have liked but I feel okay. Would I say I feel as confident as I did this time last year? Probably not, but do I feel like I can go out and do well this week? Yes, I do.
“Last year I came off the back of a second place (in the Honda) and a (tied-13th) in the Players and I was playing good golf. I was confident. Am I as confident this year? No! But I do feel like my game is in a decent place, and I am just trying to be as patient as I can. Hopefully it all comes together this week.”
The form-line? Lowry’s tied-fifth place in the Honda in February has been followed by disappointing results: 67th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tied-35th at The Players, failing to get out of the group phase at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Lowry, though, is convinced good thing aren’t far away. As he put it of turning form, “It can flip in one do, it really can”.
“The feeling, whether it be on the greens or with your driving or iron play, it is a funny old game. It is a game that some days you feel like you are never going to hit a bad shot again and some days you feel like you are never going to hit a good shot again. There are certain times I go out and I feel great, like the Players was a perfect example this year. I felt unbelievable in practice, rolled the ball unbelievable on the greens. It was the first tournament of the year I was really excited for and I went out and shot 77 (in the first round). I was like, ‘this f***ing game’.
“Then I went out and I had a pretty solid week after that, I came back and just made the cut and had a nice weekend. That was nice to do that, I went to the Match Play then and I just don’t like that course. It is a strange format and I struggled around there over the years, and I do feel like my game is in a decent spot. It can click at any stage.
“The important thing is not to try and make it click. If you try too hard to make it click then that’s when you put too much pressure on yourself. It is all about waiting for it to happen for me. I feel like I am doing the right things. I feel like I have worked very hard each year trying to get things right and just trying to be patient now.”
