Lowry says he is a better golfer than ever and ready to chase another major

Shane Lowry’s single golf major win came at Portrush in 2019 – and there was something almost central-casting about it.

Such was the impact of the Irishman winning on the links course it was a win that completely foreshadows his competitiveness when it comes to big occasion.

The Clara man has a US Open second from 2016, a Masters third from 2022 and a PGA Championship fourth from 2021.

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Lest we forget there was PGA sixth in the PGA at Valhalla some weeks back, a result which has him looking forward to the US Open at Pinehurst in a couple of weeks time.

It’s a tournament Lowry thinks his ‘new’, ‘improved’ golf can win, put paid to the lie he is just a big game links golfer, following through on the dividend gained from moving to Florida and basing himself on the U~S Tour.

“I think, naturally, your game when you live over here in America and play PGA tour and even playing on the DP World Tour, I think your game naturally gets away from that links style golf,” says Lowry.

“I wouldn’t say I am going away from it, I still know how to play links golf, I know how to hit the ball low, I know what to do.

“All I need is if you give me three or four days on a links course, off that turf, I’ll figure it out and I am pretty sure most other golfers are the same.

“So that’s why historically you get players coming over to Ireland the week before, or playing in the Scottish Open, trying to get ready for it because you do need that week or two to get your game in shape.”

There is a slightly different form of jeopardy involved for the three ‘parkland’ majors hosted in America in that they are target golf while The Open and ‘links’ golf relies on being able to manufacture shots in and around the greens.

But the risk/reward is oftentimes similar, if you are falling off leaderboards and try and push the envelope to get back in, be careful of falling even further away.

“As far as risk goes,” notes Lowry, “you probably do need to be somewhat aggressive on day one and day two without shooting yourself in the foot but you also need to play your way into the tournament.

“In these big tournaments historically, if you look at the stats and the way they all go, you definitely need to be in the top 20 after day one and you probably need to be in the top 10 after day two to win – and I am talking about winning tournaments, not having good weeks.

“I go into every tournament very similarly, I prepare as best as I can and then when I get on the first tee I go about my game.

“My aim is to play golf the way I see it and see where it leaves me on Sunday, that’s how I do it.”

That Lowry would say he is playing better golf now than he has done in the past isn’t a mystery.

If his first 24 golf majors had 13 missed cuts and his subsequent 20 to here have produced five top 10s and just two missed cuts, it is clearly because he is a better golfer.

“I think it is overall improvement, as the years go by and you are more mature and you just improve.

“From coming over here to Florida to live and playing in those big tournaments you have no choice but to improve.

“You get the best facilities, you get the best golf courses and you get to see where your game is against the best players in the world all the time, so you kinda get to know what to work on.

“I drive the ball pretty good, my mid-to-long iron is my strength which means that I like the tougher tournaments and the big tournaments because you need to be a good mid-to-long iron player and do well with those so, yeh, I think it’s just a general improvement on those things.”

Looking back at the recent USPGA at Valhalla, it was a course that played into his hands conditions-wise, albeit a horrendous start that included three bogeys in the first five holes on day one had him struggling early on.

Coming from there to finish sixth backs up the contention there is an improving golfer competing week on week ahead of the US Open and The Open still to come in this calendar year.

“Valhalla was a very long course but there was a lot of rain and it made it very soft and I think any time you give the top 30 golfers soft greens, they will shoot it out.

“But I think the USPGA will set up Pinehurst far tougher, I haven’t played there in a while and last time I played there I missed the cut by a shot.

“I remember struggling on the grass around the green but since I moved to Florida I’ve been on that type of grass ever since and I think I am a much improved player since then.

“There are parts that are definitely better, there are parts I can still improve on, I think if I go there with my golf I can shoot well.

“I played okay in Canada last week, not amazing, played well in Valhalla but I feel I am a better golfer than in 2019, maybe that is just the positive golfer in me coming out, I am a glass half-full not half-empty guy.

“I want to win more majors, I’d be happy to get another one, I’d take any of them!”

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