In golf, you lose way more than you win. But for Shane Lowry to have just seven professional wins to his name feels like an underachievement given his ability and shows that his consistency is not being rewarded.
Rory McIlroy will ultimately reflect on a year of near misses after this week’s DP World Tour Championship, but if Lowry is also not successful in Dubai then he will have his own regrets for not crossing the finish line – at least in an individual format.
Lowry lingered around one or two shots of the lead in Abu Dhabi on Sunday but a stumbling finish where he bogeyed his last two holes saw him finish in a share of 13th place. He now has seven successive finishes of 13th or better while he was 6th at the Open in Royal Troon despite holding a two shot lead at the halfway stage.
“If I’m being honest, I’d probably take a little bit less consistency and a win or two,” said Lowry during the season as he searches for his first individual title since the BMW PGA Championship in 2022.
The BMW Championship in 2022 might be Lowry’s last individual title (won 2024 Zurich Classic alongside Rory McIlroy) but it’s also a reminder that when he does win, he wins big.
Lowry counts the 2019 Open Championship as the crowning moment on his CV which also includes the a 2015 World Golf Championship, the 2019 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur.
The Offaly man has previously spoken about fearing his age after falling outside of the world’s top-50 at the start of the year and beginning the 2024 PGA Tour season not eligible for the Signature Events.
These fears should be taken with a pinch of salt as at 37, Lowry’s best years could still be ahead of him and if anything he is currently in the peak form of his career.
Since the 2023 Irish Open where he was third, Lowry has missed just two cuts and has turned his career fortunes around by rising to 28th in the world which takes away any doubt over his participation in all four major championships for next year.
He also has six top-10 finishes to boot as he enjoyed his best ever season on the PGA Tour, qualifying for the Tour Championship via the top-30 in the FedEx Cup rankings for the first time in his career.
Lowry’s finishes of 12th, 12th, 13th, 12th and 13th during a hectic run of events on the DP World Tour prove that his consistency is, well, consistent on both sides of the Atlantic.
But there is no doubt that this irks him and even any plaudits for his sustained run of form is annoying.
Pádraig Harrington’s advice is normally treated like gold dust and it is to be valued like no other. But something he told 17-year-old Roganstown starlet Seán Keeling at the Amgen Irish Open last September will be exactly what Lowry is feeling right now.
“Consistency is over-rated. You’re better off winning than just making cuts or finishing top 10. You’re remembered for your wins,” Harrington told Keeling.
Consistency is overrated and it’s not like Lowry is just backing his way into a top-10 with a low Sunday finish. Since winning in Wentworth two seasons ago, he has had multiple opportunities to win again, most notably at the 2023 Irish Open, Cognizant Classic, US PGA Championship, The Open and last week as Paul Waring held him and a host of others off to win for just the second time on tour and first in six years for the biggest victory of his career.
Lowry has had a great career to this point and has nothing left to prove but not striking while the iron is hot in this period of his career will be something that annoys him as he heads into 2025.
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