Rónán MacNamara in Royal Troon
Shane Lowry hopes his best years are ahead of him as he bids for a second Open Championship crown in Royal Troon tomorrow.
Lowry arrives after skipping the Scottish Open but he practiced Troon a fortnight ago in borderline unplayable winds according to his coach Neil Manchip before spending some time in Hogs Head in preparation for his twelfth Open appearance.
Now aged 37, Lowry has been looking over his shoulder at Father Time but realises he has plenty of time on his side to etch his name onto the Claret Jug for a second time and win one of the remaining three majors when he considers that the 2016 Open leaderboard in Troon featured Henrik Stenson aged 40, Phil Mickelson aged 47 in first and second while Steve Stricker in 4th was 49.
“I remember saying that to Padraig at the start of the year and he said when he was 37 he had one of his bets years so I’m still holding on to that,” smiled Lowry.
“I feel like when you’ve tasted success, you just want it even more. That’s just the way it is. I feel like I wanted so bad to win another one. Just give me one more and I’ll be happy. (Laughing) That’s all I want. It is too much to ask for.”
Since last September’s Irish Open at the K Club where he was third, Lowry has only missed one cut in what has been an extremely consistent ten months including equalling the lowest round in a major championship with a 62, becoming just the fifth player to do so.
“It has been good. Don’t get me wrong, it is my best season on the PGA Tour, so far. I think golf is a funny game, isn’t it? In the last two months I have shots two 62s and an 85, and it is like it is just funny. And I feel like that is just golf and I feel like if you are to sum it up, that’s what it is just like.
“You never take anything for granted, the good times don’t last for ever and the bad times don’t last forever. You just have to get on with it when you can and ride the wave when you are playing well. Look, I feel like I am playing okay now. Even I went, after the US Open, to get off to a bad start, I went to Hartford the week after and I was pretty sick the whole week. I was in bed every evening pretty early and I really struggled and I was just run down, and I gave myself half a chance going into the back nine on Sunday, or the last 12 holes on the Sunday, so I have been playing good golf and I am pretty happy at where my game is at and pretty happy with what I have been doing this season and obviously it doesn’t matter what has happened over the last six months it is all about this week now and for me it is about going out there.”
Major championships are very special and the 2019 Open champion has a reputation as a man for the big occasion but none come bigger for the man from Clara than the yearly battle for the Claret Jug.
“You drive in here and you see the claret jug when you are registering and the history with it and the golf course and the magnitude of it is just big, I think it is the biggest tournament in the world and it certainly feels like that when you are here and it feels like that when you are preparing.
“You get a little bit uptight in weeks like this and I try and stay as cool and as calm as I can but ultimately I want to play the best golf I can this week. At certain stages throughout the week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, there are times when you are anxious and a little bit nervy about things but once I get onto the first tee on Thursday and hit my tee shot I am sure I will be okay and I will go out and do my best.”
The Offaly man has been solid as ever from tee to green, ranking 16th in driving accuracy and tenth in strokes gained approach. A strokes gained putting of 106th doesn’t represent the improvement he has made on the greens in recent weeks and he knows if he can keep up his latest performances with the putter he can contend.
“I feel like I have turned a corner on the greens since even the Zurich CLassic even though we won I didn’t feel overly comfortable that week. The week after that i felt like i turned a corner on the greens and I’m feeling pretty confident with the flat stick. I always say when I come to these tournaments that if I hole some putts I can be dangerous so fingers crossed.
“I’ve been home for a few weeks now and putting on greens like this so it’s the one thing when we came here two weeks ago, it was my first golf this side of America and I was happy with how easy I was getting the ball to the hole, normally I struggle on slow greens when I come back from the States, maybe it’s the new putter I’m using.”