Shane Lowry was within touching distance of being in the final group on Sunday at The Masters, but closed out with two bogeys and had long since been dropped from coverage by the time the leading duo of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau were setting the tournament on fire on their opening hole.
Despite his close friendship with Rory and clear delight at witnessing him realising his childhood dreams, on a personal level, the 2025 Masters will ultimately be one to forget for Lowry who closed out with an 81, falling from a tie for sixth to a tie for 42nd.
But despite playing superb golf for 54 holes – he might take exception to that considering his frustrations walking off the course on Saturday evening – the thing most of the golfing world will remember Lowry for this week were those frustrations boiling over when talking to the press after the third round.
If you somehow haven’t seen it by now, I’ll give a quick summary. After answering a routine question about his disappointment with a bogey-bogey finish, the second question, coming from an American reporter, asked if he’d been looking back at Rory at all. In defence of a fellow journalist from across the pond, he was probably referencing the deafening roars that rang around Augusta National, particularly when his towering approach landed on the 15th green and he buried the eagle putt.
But it was a little clumsy, definitely way too early in the short period Shane was going to be available for, and came across as disrespectful, at least in Lowry’s mind.
“No. No, I’m not going to stand here and talk about Rory for 10 minutes. I’m trying to win the tournament, as well. I know that’s what y’all want me to talk about, but I’ve just had a shit finish, I’ve got a chance to win the Masters tomorrow, and I’m going to go hit some balls,” Lowry responded.
It was an understandable response, no arguments here, but having been coaxed back, he continued to answer more questions and the press circling him wisely kept the topic to Lowry’s own game and tournament ambitions.
Some players are outwardly emotionless, but Lowry isn’t one of them, and he’s all the better for it. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and when he’s running hot, he’s not going to suddenly be all smiles and cliches when he faces the press. We saw that at last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon where, having held the 36-hole lead, suffered in the worst of the Saturday weather and surrendered the lead.
“Yeah, obviously, look, there’s no doubt I’m going to go out there tomorrow thinking I can win the tournament, but it’s just hard right now. You have to give me a bit of leeway,” he said.
“Ten minutes ago I had to putt for par on the 18th green, and I’m here talking to you guys now trying to figure out how I shot 77 in my own head.”
A few weeks back, Collin Morikawa, seemingly poised to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, had his pocket picked by Russell Henley and refused to talk to the media afterwards, but doubled down and tripled down on his position when the press swerve was brought back up, saying that he “didn’t owe anyone anything.”
Tour pros, past and present, have had their say on Morikawa’s stance, and opinion has been divided with McIlroy among those to have defended him and McIlroy himself has declined to talk to the press on multiple occasions.
And with that on his mind, Lowry ended his session with the press by referencing the Morikawa situation and giving his own thoughts on player-media interactions.
“I’m going to go and…. we talk about Collin Morikawa a few weeks ago. I think we need time. I think I need a half an hour now to sit there and gather my thoughts. I can’t be coming to talk to you guys straightaway. It shouldn’t be happening. I don’t agree with it.
“Tennis players have to talk to the media, but they have a half an hour or hour before they have to do it. I feel like we should have the same thing. That’s how I feel. I’m probably going to say something stupid. I probably already have said something stupid because I’m pissed off right now. I’m just going to leave, okay?”
It’s understandable, of course, and he’s right – he’s not contractually obliged to talk to assembled media. LIV players aside, professional golfers, as they’ve often reminded us over the past few years, are independent contractors and like most other professional athletes, they aren’t keen on signing a contract without sufficient financial reward for doing so.
Without being contractually obliged and without the media waiting to interview them when they finish up recording their scores, most golfers who are running a little hot under the collar will have exited stage left long before the half-hour or hour is up. Some will hit balls on the range, sure, but people’s livelihoods depend on getting reactions and reflective thoughts and spreading the narrative based on that. A vague promise of returning at an unspecified time to mull over their thoughts with adequate time to reflect might work in a perfect world, but we’re all big enough to know that the world’s far from perfect.
And if you’re thinking that Lowry, Morikawa, McIlroy and co. have no obligation to keep reporters employed with agencies that they have no connection to, then it’s worth considering why elite players play for the vast sums of money that they do. It’s not just their talent – nobody is questioning that – it’s because the public interest means that sponsors are willing to stump up large sums of money to be associated with an event or with a player and the media are the ones that drive that interest.
Last year, Lowry finished seventh in the PGA Tour Player Impact Program rankings and earned a $3.5 million bonus as a result. There are a number of metrics which gauge where a player finishes, but number of televised minutes and number of column inches focusing on them are a significant contributor, so it’s a double edged sword.
We need the players for our livelihoods, and the players need us for theirs, and that’s something that’s worth not losing sight of.
Leave a comment