The smile. Every time you looked at Shane Lowry on the driving range he was shooting the breeze between shots. Laughing. Smiling. For all the world a man comfortable in his own skin. And why not? For the first time this year he’s playing on the European side of the Atlantic, having prepped for this 152nd Open Championship – and a tilt for a second Claret Jug – his own way.
Lowry opted to skip last week’s Genesis Scottish Open and instead headed to Hogs Head in Co Kerry where he and some friends had the run of the links course. “It was quiet. It was like 15 mile an hour wind. It was perfect. Exactly what I needed,” said Lowry, who had already made an advance reconnaissance visit to Troon to get the lay of the land.
These are his kind of weeks, where Majors get the competitive juices flowing and where pressure adds its own extra ingredient to the mix. “You drive in here and you see the Claret Jug when you are registering and the history with it and the golf course and the magnitude of it is just big. I think it is the biggest tournament in the world.
“You get a little bit uptight in weeks like this, and I try and stay as cool and as calm as I can, but ultimately I want to play the best golf I can this week. At certain stages throughout the week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, there are times when you are anxious and a little bit nervy about things. But once I get on to the first tee on Thursday and hit my tee shot I am sure I will be okay and I will go out and do my best,” said Lowry.
For sure he’s glad to have the taste of sea salt in the air. To have the wind blow. To have the nuances of links and its array of bounces.
Lowry has enjoyed a great season so far on the PGA Tour, where he is currently 13th on the FedEx Cup standings, which has included a win (in tandem with Rory McIlroy in the Zurich Classic) and four other top-10 finishes, including a tied-sixth place in the US PGA.
“I am pretty happy at where my game is at and pretty happy with what I have been doing this season. Obviously it doesn’t matter what has happened over the last six months, it is all about this week now, and for me it is about going out there. Hopefully I can go into Thursday feeling good about myself and give it a good run.
“I think golf is a funny game, isn’t it? In the last two months I have shot two 62s and an 85, and it is like it is just funny. You never take anything for granted, the good times don’t last forever and the bad times don’t last forever. You just have to get on with it when you can and ride the wave when you are playing well.”
Lowry has a late/early tee-time slot for the opening two rounds when another former champion Cameron Smith and former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick will be his partners in crime in going about their respective bids for glory.
And the move back to this side of the pond, and the slower greens compared to the USA, hasn’t required any remedial action. For instance, Tiger Woods has added lead to his putter to help. Not Lowry. Maybe it’s the new putter. Maybe it’s the extra few weeks he’s had to acclimatise.
“I feel like I have turned a corner on the greens since even the Zurich Classic. Even though we won I didn’t feel overly comfortable that week. The week after that I felt like I turned a corner on the greens and I’m feeling pretty confident with the flat stick. I always say when I come to these tournaments that if I hole some putts I can be dangerous. So fingers crossed.”
Five years on from his win at Royal Portrush, Lowry – now 37 – has even used those extra digits as a positive. “I remember saying that to Pádraig [Harrington] at the start of the year and he said when he was 37 he had one of his best years. So I’m holding on to that.
“I feel like when you’ve tasted success you just want it even more. That’s just the way it is. I feel like I wanted so bad to win another one. Just give me one more and I’ll be happy. That’s all I want. It is too much to ask for?”
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