Shane Lowry is determined to put himself in the mix at the Players Championship this week as he looks to right the wrongs of his Cognizant Classic collapse at TPC Sawgrass.
Lowry surrendered a three-shot lead with as many holes to play at PGA National a fortnight ago, allowing Nico Echavarria to steal in for victory. It extended the Offaly man’s trophy drought which dates back to the 2022 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
After missing the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, Lowry hopes to get back into contention at golf’s ‘fifth major.’
“It’s hard, I’ve obviously thought a lot about it over the last couple of weeks,” Lowry told Sky Sports.
“You have to enjoy putting yourself there. It’s a lot of pressure when you do put yourself there. But that’s the reason we get up every morning and the reason we go to work.
“What happened, it was a bit of a disaster. But the enjoyment of being there in contention, it doesn’t get much better than that on the PGA Tour.
“I just need to keep putting myself there, and hopefully eventually it’ll happen at some stage.”
TPC Sawgrass could prove the perfect cure for Lowry, who has the second-best cumulative score around the golf course over the last five years – second only to two-time winner and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
“That’s an interesting stat, I didn’t know that,” Lowry added. “I’m pretty happy where I’m at. Hopefully I can get out and get after it this weekend.”
Lowry will be joined in the field this week by Seamus Power who gets the Irish underway on Thursday at 1:28pm Irish time alongside Patton Kizzire and Johnny Keefer.
The Clara man will tee it up alongside US Open champion JJ Spaun and former Ryder Cup partner Sepp Straka at 5:18pm Irish time.
Rory McIlroy hasn’t been on site in Ponte Vedra yet as he nurses a back injury that forced him to withdraw prior to round three at Bay Hill last week. The defending Players champion is expected to arrive on Wednesday and complete pre-tournament media duties although it is unknown whether he will play a practice round or not.
His caddie Harry Diamond was scouting the course on Tuesday with McIlroy due to tee off late on Thursday with Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele at 5:42pm Irish time.
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