Shane Lowry admits this season has been a bruising one for him after the mental anguish of a handful of Sunday disappointments but he must put all of that behind him and keep a clear head for the challenge of the mind that Shinnecock Hills will provide at this week’s US Open.
Admitting that you have a mental glitch ahead of the major where most players lose their heads probably doesn’t bode well, but the conundrum that Lowry faces is one that keeps him up at night. Technically he can’t see any issues in his game but he also can’t quite piece together the puzzle of why he is suffering on Sundays which saw him blow chances to win in Dubai and Florida as well as carding an 81 in the final round of the Masters. A closing one over round at the Canadian Open to go from four off the lead to mid-30s on the leaderboard was another example last weekend.
“Honestly, I feel like there’s a piece of the puzzle missing somewhere and I’ve been trying to figure it out and I don’t know what it is. I genuinely don’t,” shrugged the affable Offaly man who has struggled to put four rounds together.
“Sometimes, and maybe I’ll kill myself for saying this, but sometimes you feel like, I’d love to be not getting results from doing something really bad, because at least you know that’s what it is.
“If I wasn’t driving the ball well, if I wasn’t putting well, I’d love if that was the case because then I could just work on that … it’s been difficult. I haven’t left a golf course on a Sunday evening happy in a long time. It’s hard and it does eat you up. Sunday evenings have been quite difficult. But what can you do? You have no other choice but to keep on going. You get back up on Monday morning and you go at it again.”
Since last year’s US Open, Lowry has missed just three worldwide cuts as he continues this remarkable consistency he has shown since 2023. Unfortunately there has been no silverware to follow. Questions over his temperament under pressure have been thrown at him, but if the 2019 Open champion was ever to retort he can go back to that day in Royal Portrush or as recently as last September when he retained the Ryder Cup for Europe at Bethpage Black.
So he has done it, he can do it, but he just can’t put his finger on why he can’t do it more often. Perhaps this week is as good a chance as any to prove the doubters wrong. He has shown an aptitude for the game of patience with some good finishes on golf’s toughest setups.
“That’s all you can do. I’ve been doing that. I feel like I’ve been doing that well. Golf is a funny game and it can turn at any time. You can get a few breaks at the right time and it can work in your favour. I’m just trying to do my thing. I feel like I’m doing everything I need to be doing. I just need to wait for it to all happen.”
Lowry remembers little to nothing of his missed cut at Shinnecock in 2018 but he arrives this time around with a game tailor-made to a US Open set up. His prowess from tee to green won’t be as heavily relied on but his wizardry around the greens might be what can keep him in contention.
“I feel, if I’m mentally on top of myself, I feel like I’ll do okay. But who knows? I’ll prepare as well as I can in the next two days. I’m going to give it everything I have on Thursday like I always do and see where it leads me,” added Lowry.
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