Shane Lowry has become a regular feature at the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, just south of San Diego, and the Offaly man has fond memories of his most recent visit having carded a career-first albatross in last year’s final round.
Playing the par-5 sixth hole on the South Course on Sunday, Lowry took dead aim from 256 yards and after begging the ball to go just a touch, it duly obliged, landing right on line and catching the centre of the flag, horseshoeing the hole for a second before dropping in.
“I remember things weren’t going very well for me at the time,” Lowry admitted to the Golf Channel.
“I think I was one-over through four or five holes and then I hit a lovely 5-wood in there [on the sixth]. I pulled it a little bit and got a nice bounce and went in.
“I holed quite a few shots last year, I’ve a good highlight reel from 2024 so that was good fun. It’s always nice to do something like that.”
Us Irish get lucky every now and then ☘️ @PGATOUR #albatross
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) January 27, 2024
Lowry first played at Torrey Pines in 2015, finishing seventh and backed up that performance with a 13th-placed finish in 2016, but after opting to skip the tournament and begin his year in the Middle East for several seasons, his tie for 25th last year was his best result since and helped set him up for an extremely consistent year on the PGA Tour.
Played over two courses – the North Course and South Course – on days one and two, the remaining players tackle the South Course for the final two rounds after the halfway cut, and it’s the South Course – host to the US Open in 2008 and 2021 – that Lowry prefers.
“I’ve started my season a few times here so it kind of made sense to me,” Lowry said.
“I like this type of golf. Obviously we’re playing two courses here but the South Course is quite a tough golf course, a US Open venue and I like that type of golf so I do like coming here at the start of the year.
“Just the way my schedule’s working out, I’m in all the elevated events, the Signature Events, so come here this week, play Pebble [Beach] next week and then on from there.”
Lowry’s first competitive outing of the year was a little different, however, as he head the honour of hitting the first shot in the TGL as his Bay Golf Club side secured an opening night victory over Xander Schauffele and the New York Golf Club.
But as much fun as the TGL was, it’s proper tournament golf that he loved most and he’s itching to get back on the course this week in a tournament that starts on Wednesday and finishes on Saturday to avoid clashing with the NFL Conference Finals on Sunday.
“I’m quite excited to get my season started. I’ve had a long time off and looking forward to getting going again,” he said.
“I had four weeks in Ireland, didn’t touch a golf club for four weeks, which was nice, but then been back in Florida for the last few weeks.
“Played a bit of TGL, had some great fun doing that; that was some of the most enjoyable time I’ve had playing golf in a while so just trying to get back to working at it and planning for this season.
“Obviously lot of big things coming up. The Masters is the first big one, or huge one. We’ve got that to look forward to and then on to the other majors and Ryder Cup.”
Lowry will play alongside defending champion Matthieu Pavon and Tony Finau in rounds one and two and will be among the featured groups when they tee off at 18:29 Irish time on the South Course in round one.
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