Relaxed Lowry relishing Fota fight

Having won the Irish Amateur Close Championship down the road at Cork Golf Club, Little Island, and formally launched the Irish Open here a few weeks ago, Shane Lowry immediately felt at home when he arrived at Fota Island on Tuesday afternoon.

“A nice part of the country,” was the wry comment of one of Leinster rugby’s most ardent supporters. On a more serious note, Lowry made no secret of his determination to capitalise on his outstanding second place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and to shake off the memory of his late collapse in the final round of the US Open at the weekend.

“I was gutted at what happened in Pinehurst,” he admitted. “It’s tough to come off the course straight away and talk to people, after the finish I had. I felt like I got very unlucky on 16 and then made a poor decision as well which kind of rubbed salt into the wound. And then I three-putted the last, probably because I still had 16 in my head.”