Sky’s the limit for Irish pair this summer
There was clearly disappointment for both Irishmen, who both felt that an opportunity to win had slipped from their grasps last weekend. But both world number one McIlroy and Lowry, up to 45 in the rankings, take plenty of positives with them into the next phase of the season and July’s Open Championship in particular.
While Lowry heads to Germany for this week’s BMW International Open convinced he is on the verge of a long-awaited second professional tournament victory, McIlroy will touch down in Belfast today determined to improve the putting that made this US Open one that got away from him.
Rory just made this 72-foot birdie putt to get within two at the #USOpen. http://t.co/rrYNIWC8NK (via @usopengolf)
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 21, 2015
The four-time major winner went out with a bang at Chambers Bay on Sunday night, playing his best all-around golf to briefly threaten the leaders before settling for a still impressive final-round four-under 66. That left him a tie for ninth on level par, five shots behind champion and rival Jordan Spieth, level with Jason Day as well as Lowry.
As he looks ahead to his defence of the Claret Jug at St Andrews in three weeks, McIlroy will be confident he is on the right road to resume the form that brought him three titles in the first half of the season.
“Of course I take a lot of positives out of this. The long game is really in good shape. I’ve never hit the ball as good in a major championship for four rounds,” McIlroy said. “I was really dialled in all week and confident with that.
“And if I can just get the putting a little bit better and roll a few more in and get a little bit of confidence with that going, I see nothing but positive signs for the next few months.
“It bodes well for the rest of the summer the way I’ve hit the ball. And I’ve got a couple of weeks to work on my putting and get that up to the shape that it has been in and especially the way it was last year.”
McIlroy will tune up for The Open in the Scottish Open at Gullane starting July 2, but not before heading up to St Andrews for a couple of practice rounds the previous weekend as he bids to repeat his victory at Hoylake last year.
Credit to @ShaneLowryGolf (L). Wore black all week in memory of the Irish students killed at in Berkeley. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/mFFA2c0OwJ
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 22, 2015
Lowry, meanwhile, heads straight to Munich having achieved twin goals of contending in a major for the first time and also returning to the world’s top 50, securing conditional membership on the PGA Tour which means he is no longer limited in the number of tournaments he can play in the US. With a strong run through The Open, WGC-Bridgestone and PGA championships next month and into August, the Offaly man can move even closer to a full Tour card for 2016.
“I want to get my card, I want to play both (PGA and European Tours) so I need to really cement my place in the top 50 and I’d like to win pretty soon again which would be the number one goal on my list now,” said Lowry, who pocketed a cheque for €210,476 on Sunday.
“It was a good week, top 10, but I’m going away feeling like I’ve played the golf to win this week. I came here at the start of the week with good expectations of doing quite well and I did. I gave myself a great chance out there and any time I made a birdie I seemed to make a bogey pretty quickly afterwards.
“Making five birdies on the Sunday of a major is what you want to be doing.
Wasn't to be for me today. Really enjoyed the buzz of contending on the Sunday of a major. Thanks so much to everyone for your support.
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) June 22, 2015
“For me I just want to be going to every tournament I play in feeling like I’m going to win. Coming here to a tournament of this calibre on a course like this and giving myself a chance to win gives me that little bit of extra confidence that I think I need to kick on from here now and hopefully get a win pretty soon. I’m in Germany next week, I feel like my game is great and I’m really looking forward to getting there.”
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