Mark McGowan at Royal Portrush
Shane Lowry admitted that he’d been fighting with thoughts of the first round of the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush for some time now, and the 2019 champion was delighted to finally get his opening hole out of the way and, playing alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, get his teeth into the round.
“I’ve fought with this round of golf in my head for a few weeks now,” he admitted after carding a one-under-par round of 70 in testing conditions. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and the first tee shot wasn’t that easy.
“I wasn’t feeling very comfortable there and I felt like I managed to handle myself very well and handled myself really well all day.”
Lowry took the aggressive approach by pulling driver on the first tee and splitting the fairway and though his birdie putt lipped out, he’d convert birdie chances on two and six to get to -2 early in the round.
Looking to repeat his success in 2019 at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry is under way. pic.twitter.com/3vSwKySU4P
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025
While they were standing on the tee at the par-5 seventh, the stiffish breeze they’d faced for the opening third got the addition of driving rain, and for the next seven or eight holes, the conditions were arguably at the worst they’d be all day.
A mistake on approach to the ninth cost him his first bogey, and he dropped another on 13 after going a little long on the par-3, but a 25-footer on 17 elicited massive cheers from the galleries and he held his nerve over a tricky four-footer on the last to secure a round in red figures at -1.
“I watched a bit of golf early this morning and I could see how firm the golf course had gotten even in the last day,” he explained. “I played played a lot of golf around the country the last few weeks and the weather’s been perfect and then you go out today, but you know, I think I adapted pretty well and I think I played really well today.
“I was very happy with my day. Probably one or two [loose] shots, but you know, I think any time you shoot one-under-par in Portrush in those conditions, I think it’s decent.
“You know, we’re going to get challenging conditions over the next few days,” he added. “Like today, for example, the 11th hole – it was the worst hole to get the weather we got in, you know, and we all really struggled and I fortunately made a great putt for par, but, I think there’s going to be certain times in the tournament where that’s going to happen and you just need to kind of put your head down and battle through it.”
22 feet to save par. No problem for Shane Lowry.
Watch his Featured Group on R&A TV: https://t.co/XcxUfDFrmg pic.twitter.com/uGMg2RrPj9
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025
Like his close friend Pádraig Harrington in this morning’s opening game – and Lowry set the alarm clock extra early to watch – the reception he got on the opening tee box was incredible and continued throughout, culminating with rapturous applause as he approach the 18th green with a scorecard in hand for the first time since claiming the Claret Jug six years ago. And he was very much appreciative of the support that he received.
“Yeah, the crowds are amazing,” he said. “Everything about this tournament’s just been great, and I tried to kind of use that as motivation instead of, you know, – sometimes you can put too much pressure on yourself and I tried to use it in a different way today, and I felt like I did a good job of that.”
The R&A provided the players with a tough setup to contend with, but Lowry felt that the difficulty was a fair reflection on the golf course and of the undulating greens.
“Yeah, it’s fair, but [there are some] very tough pins,” he said. “They’re on slopes, but like not too unfair. But yeah, if you miss them on the wrong side, you’re in big trouble, but fortunately I didn’t do that too much.”
Lowry, circled back to talk about the first tee pressure, admitting that he was close to the most nervous he’s ever been over a tournament starting shot.
“I put that up there with the first tee in Ryder Cups,” he admitted. “I was fighting with that all morning, and you know, it’s going to be alright for the rest of the week.
“I just wanted to get my my tournament underway and you know, honestly, obviously I want so much to do well in this tournament. I want so much to give myself a chance on Sunday and you can’t do that without getting a good first tee shot, and I knew I needed to do that.”
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