It has been two weeks of celebration for golf’s newest Major Champion – Shane Lowry after his stunning six-shot triumph at Royal Portrush and now in returning to competition at this week’s Northern Trust, he’s the toast of the broader golf world.
Indeed, Lowry hosted his first formal golf media news conference today in the Media Centre at the Liberty National Golf Club and host venue for this week’s $US 9.25m event, the opening tournament of the FedEx Cup Playoff Series.
And one of the first questions asked of Lowry was if his career expectations change now that he is the winner of a Major.
“Yeah, look, the way I’ve played golf this year, and I set my stall out at the start of the year, myself and my coach, we had great conversations a couple weeks at the start of the year, and literally all we talk about is: No matter what happens next week — no matter what happens today, there’s always tomorrow,” said Lowry.
“No matter what happens this week, there’s always next week. No matter what you do — it’s totally irrelevant when I stand on the golf course tomorrow what I’ve done two weeks ago.
“Obviously I won The Open and I’m a Major Champion, but that doesn’t give me the God-given right to go out and shoot 65 tomorrow, do you know what I mean. I still have to go out there and do my own thing and play my own game and see where it leaves me. Like I said at the start of The Open, I’m going to give it 100 percent tomorrow and shoot the best score I can and see where it leaves me and I’ll do the same on Friday and hopefully on the weekend.
“I feel the way I’ve been playing golf all year and the mental frame of mind I’ve got myself in has been really good, and I think I just need to keep doing that and just keep taking it day by day and week-after-week and see where it leaves me at the end of the year.”
Lowry arrived into New York at the start of this week and enjoyed a 9-hole practice round in the company of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell before he and wife, Wendy headed across the Hudson River to the city known affectionately as ‘The Big Apple’.
Some three years earlier Lowry and Wendy decided to skip an ever-growing wedding guest list back home in Ireland and fly off to New York and get married with just one other person present – a hired photographer.
But on this latest visit, Lowry had a new-found friend – the famed Claret Jug and you can imagine the reaction when he carried the Claret Jug on a visit to the Empire State Building.
It prompted Lowry to be asked whether he now sees himself being more recognised following his victory along the Co. Antrim coastline.
“Yeah, look, it’s changed my life a little bit. I’m definitely more recognized now, and even coming over here to events, but if anything when you are like that, it makes you feel more comfortable,” he said.
“That’s the way I feel, anyway. They are not calling me “Beef” or they are not calling me “J.B. Holmes” out there, anyway (laughter).
“That’s a plus. Definitely back home, the support I’ve got back home has just been incredible. I haven’t really sat back and
thought about it a lot but what I feel — hopefully it’s going to do a little bit for golf in Ireland and hopefully it’s going to get kids playing the game.
“It does feel like it has had that effect a little bit over the last few weeks and hopefully I can move forward and become more successful.”
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