I’m Ryder Cup level, says Lowry

Shane Lowry believes he’s ready to chase the American dream on the PGA Tour and play the kind of global schedule that could make him a Ryder Cup player and an Olympian in 2016.

But after battling his way into the world’s top 50 with a gruelling end of season schedule, the 27-year-old Clara ace says he now needs the next seven weeks off to rekindle his desire for the biggest season of his life.

Looking forward to the Christmas break with fiancée Wendy after a bumper €2m season, Lowry said: “I need a break. I feel I need time to get my hunger back for the game.

“I don’t know how that is going to read but I’ve just played 11 events in 14 weeks with a lot of different time zones and a lot of travel and it caught up with me in the end.

“I think I need to schedule better for next year and play in tournaments I can do well in.”

He’s planning to skip the European Tour’s Desert Swing if he can secure some invitations for the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing, starting with the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

He said: “I’d like to take a month in January to get ready for that and the season that’s ahead rather than being thrown in the deep end with three events in a row in the desert.

“I’d really like to play both tours because even through I played a bit in the US last year, I didn’t have a great time because I wasn’t doing too well.

“It was all a bit rushed, getting invites the week before events and playing different types of courses and different greens every week. It was too much too quick.”

Lowry is now 44th in the world which means he can look forward to playing all the majors and the World Golf Championships with an invitation to Augusta National scheduled to arrive over the next week of two.

It’s a massive step up for the 27-year-old from Clara but he has no intention of changing his style and reckons he’s already a strong enough player to play in a Ryder Cup.

“I think if you had thrown me onto the first tee in Gleneagles it would have been no bother,” he said. “The standard in Europe is so good that if you put anyone that was top 30 in the Race to Dubai on the team, they would all perform well.

“I definitely feel I am good enough for the Ryder Cup without doubt.”

The Masters is going to be one of the highlights of the year but Lowry has no plans to change his aggressive style, admitting: “If I played more sensible golf and dropped fewer shots, I might contend more, but being aggressive is the reason I make more birdies.”

He sees no reason why he can’t contend at Augusta either and admits he finds it easier to get up for the big weeks than the smaller early season events in Europe. “I just love the big events and the buzz of the big crowds and that’s why I’ve done well in the Open and at Wentworth,” he said.

“I think if you go and play well, you can win any tournament. Yeah, history says first timers don’t win the Masters but I think no matter what tournament it is, if you play well, you have a chance.”

As for the Ryder Cup and the Olympics in 2016, he added: “Rory is a shoo-in now for the Olympics and it’s between me and Graeme (McDowell) for the next spot unless all three of us are in the top 15 in the world.

“The big goal is Ryder Cup in 2016 and if I can do that the rest will take care of itself. The thing about golf is if you do one thing, you do them all.

“If I play well for two years and make the Olympic team, I will make the Ryder Cup team because you are obviously going to be winning.”

As for what he needs to change, he said: “There are a few things I need to improve but I’m far more consistent now. My bad score at the start of the year was 75 and now it’s 72.

“So I don’t think I need to change anything. I think I’ve done alright and I am in a nice upward progression.”