Lowry relieved the start’s at an end

SHANE LOWRY was back home among his own people in Clara, Co Offaly, last night disappointed at not having done better in his first professional tournament but in a strange way quite relieved that the occasion was behind him.

He shot a one over par 73 in yesterday’s second round of the European Open at the London Club and while it was an improvement of five strokes on Thursday’s 78, it still left him well outside the cut-off mark. A seven over par total wasn’t what he had hoped for but, quite rightly, he was looking on the bright side and I believe we will see a different Shane Lowry when he tees it up at the Wales Open next week.

“I went out trying to shoot 65 but unless I played out of my skin, that was never going to happen,” he acknowledged. “I’ll be okay. I’ll go get ready for next week. There has been a lot of media attention but that will quickly settle down and I’m looking forward to being just another player and being able to get on with it. I’m glad to have this week over although I actually played good golf over the last 24, 25 holes.

“My putting let me down a little although I really enjoyed myself today, maybe because I played a bit better, and it felt good to be out there. I had a laugh with my caddie and tried to put the bad things behind. You couldn’t have anything bigger than I had at Baltray in the last round but the crowds here were big, the weather lovely, played in a t-shirt, course beautiful, everything was good about it.”

Seasoned professionals such as his playing partners Paul McGinley and Anthony Wall like what they have seen so far of Lowry with the Englishman stressing: “He has lots to learn in professional golf as we all have. He’s a little raw. He short sided himself too many times. You can maybe get away with that on a links but here it’s thick rough. He has bags of talent and is a lovely kid as well. I think he was a bit nervous and got down on himself a number of times which he wouldn’t normally do. Everyone will think it should be easy after winning an event but that’s not the way it is. I expect him to do great things.”

His good friend Rory McIlroy pointed out: “It’s an ordeal and he now has it out of the way. There is so much expectation and pressure and so much written about it. It will be tough next week, it will be tough for the rest of the year, but if he produces the golf that we all know he is capable of, he will do fantastically well. He needs to get settled in on Tour, to playing week in, week out, and it’s all new to him. Enjoy it, that’s what he needs to do.”

It should be music to Lowry’s ears that people like McGinley and Wall see something special in his golf game and there is no doubt that the limited amount of golf he has played since his victory at Baltray told against him this week. Apart from 12 holes with his father and girlfriend at his home club, Esker Hills, he hadn’t stood on a golf course after Baltray until Tuesday’s practice round.

If one were to have any misgivings about Lowry’s capacity to compete successfully on the European Tour, it might be in the area of fitness and his stated dislike for spending too much time on the range. He is a big man by nature and won’t find it easy to control his weight so it is reassuring to know that he has been working on this with Eric Miller, the former Irish rugby international.

“I haven’t been able to do much over the past two weeks but I’ll get back into it again after Wales when I’ll have two weeks off,” he said. “Eric has given me a programme and it will be easier for me to do it out here rather than in amateur golf. As an amateur, you’re playing 36 holes a day and you’re shattered every evening whereas now it’s only 18 a day and that gives you more time.”

Although Rory McIlroy and Colin Montgomerie, two players from different eras, haven’t overdone it on the range, they do spend more time there than they are sometimes prepared to admit. Most observers believe that Lowry will have to do likewise and this is where Neil Manchip, his much respected coach from the amateur days, has a key role to play. Teacher and student are extremely good friends and that alliance can be hugely beneficial to Lowry as the months and years go by.

As it so happens, Lowry will need to be at his sharpest mentally and physically over the next 10 days or so given that he will attempt to qualify for the Open Championship over 36 holes at Sunningdale on Monday week when he will tackle the Old and New courses without a practice round.

Apart from his natural talent and ability to shoot really low numbers, Lowry has a lot going for him, not least the fact that he is exempt on Tour until the end of 2011. So he has all the time in the world to pace himself, not to get too down if things go against him. And if he remains as pleasant and unassuming a young man as he is at the moment, then he will be a very popular member of the circuit.