Rónán MacNamara at Royal Portrush
Shane Lowry admits that avoiding any complacency could hold the key to repeating his Open Championship heroics of six years ago as he gears up for what he expects to be a difficult scoring week at Royal Portrush.
Lowry opted to skip the Genesis Scottish Open once again last week. Instead, he went on a links golf tour of Ireland that any American visiting our shores would be mouthwatering over as he played Waterville, Portmarnock, The Island, Baltray, Hogs Head and Adare Manor for good measure.
The 2019 Open champion thoroughly enjoyed his first visit back home since Christmas and after a gruelling 9 events in 11 weeks before the US Open which included a few near misses, he feels he has a point to prove, which he believes makes him dangerous.
This has proven to be true. Lowry walked in after five holes of a practice round in Oakmont in 2016 and finished runner-up that week. Three years later he had a meltdown on the eve of the Open here and won. So, after an excellent couple of days practice, he wouldn’t say no to a rough stretch to pique his focus.
“Sometimes when everything is going really well, I get complacent. Then all of a sudden before I know it, I’m like 3-over through 5 and you start to have a panic because you feel like you’re going to do well.
“I feel like when things are not going well I think is when I’m at my best, or when I don’t feel like things are going well, like go back to 2019 here, I had a meltdown on the Wednesday because I thought I wasn’t going to go out and play well, but then that focuses me in a little bit more. If I can keep my complacency away and my expectation down, that’s when I’m at my best.
“How am I feeling? I’m feeling great the last two days, so that’s not great. (Laughter).
“No, honestly, I’ve had a great week. I’ve had a great week of practice. I just need to play shit for the next couple of days, and I’ll be all right.”
Lowry is without an individual victory since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth but did reach the Tour Championship of the FedEx Cup for the first time last year before cracking the top-10 in the world rankings for the first time earlier this season.
While he hasn’t been without his own personal achievements since last claiming silverware, the Offaly man feels he is a much better player than he was in 2019, despite not picking up the victories he perhaps should have.
“I’ve still got certain things that I’d like to achieve in the game, and I’m working very hard at that, but I do feel like since 2019 I’ve been a different person, different golfer, and I feel like I’ve been better for it.
“I feel like I’m a better golfer than I was in 2019. I am a better golfer than I was in 2019. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and win by seven this year instead of six. It’s just golf; that’s the way it is.
“I think, as a golfer, you always have to look at it as the glass is always half full. You can’t look at it any other way. If you look at it any other way, you’re going to be in trouble. So I try and look at it that way all the time.”
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