As years go, 2025 wasn’t a bad one for Shane Lowry. The Offaly man reached a career-high 10th in the Official World Golf Rankings after finishing tied for second at the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club – a PGA Tour Signature Event – finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy at Pebble Beach, and got himself into contention going into the final round of The Masters, all before the season highlight at Bethpage Black.
With the Europeans on the ropes as the United States’ staged a comeback for the ages, Lowry’s clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole guaranteed that the trophy would be returning back across the Atlantic and, with the pressure eased on those behind, Tyrrell Hatton got the half-point to secure overall victory.
And that made up for all the near misses that preceded it.
“Yeah, I mean, 2025… obviously just one outstanding highlight,” he said in his press conference ahead of the Dubai Invitational where he kicks off his 2026 season. “I think – not that I saved my year – I did play really good all year, but obviously didn’t get a win. That was kind of — that topped it all off for me. At the start of the year, if you had told me I was going to do that, I wouldn’t have cared about anything else I did.”
2026, however, is not a Ryder Cup – or an Olympic – year, so Lowry will be purely focusing on himself and on his own results, and among the goals he’s setting is to return to the winners’ circle having last found himself atop the leaderboard in singles play at the conclusion of a tournament at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship.
“2026, obviously I’ve set some new goals and obviously big tournaments, majors,” he explained. “You know, big tournaments on the PGA Tour, here in Europe, and just kind of — I think week-to-week goals and then long-term goals, you set them all and you try and hit your goals along the way.
“I’d like to contend in a couple of majors this year and give myself a couple of chances in regular events as well and to try to get a win in the near future. That would be ideal.
“When I had chances to win – Philadelphia was one where I should have won, but hindsight is obviously easy to look at it like that – I think I did everything pretty well last year.
“I think obviously there’s parts of my game that I could improve on. But for the most part, I think my game was really, really good. I think it’s all about being myself. I’ve been around a long time now and I know what works for me. Just keep being me and see what happens.”
Having been absent for the inaugural staging of the Dubai Invitational in 2024, Lowry will be making his first competitive appearance at Dubai Creek, but from what he’s seen in previous casual rounds and in practice this week, he feels that driving will be key to low scoring.
“Yeah, I’ve never played the tournament here – only played casually,” he said. “Thought it was fairly easy. But if you start to look where all the trouble is, there’s a few really, really tough shots out here. It’s a course where if you drive it in play you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances, but if you start driving it off-line, you’re going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. It’s a nice way to start the year.”
While Lowry, like most of the top players in the game, will play primarily on the PGA Tour in 2026, he admitted that there’s always a special feeling when he tees it up on the DP World Tour. And Lowry will play alongside McIlroy in the opening two rounds, which is something that he always enjoys given the close nature of their friendship and shared experiences.
“Yeah, the DP World Tour, honestly, I absolutely love coming back and playing here,” he smiled. “I love coming back and seeing all the old faces.
“But I think the tournaments themselves – obviously we’re here this week, this is, I believe, the second Dubai Invitational – we go to the Desert Classic next week, obviously the history of it. I think history… that’s what it’s all about, winning the great championships that we’ve had for many years. I’m going to try to win and support as much as I can.”
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