Shane Lowry: It’s time for the (Major) talking to stop

Shane Lowry will go into today’s Scottish Open with a new look and a determination to ignore the expectation building around him ahead of next week’s Open Championship at St Andrews.

Ireland’s world number 46 resumes competition at Gullane Golf Club having finished tied for ninth alongside Rory McIlroy and Jason Day in last month’s US Open at Chambers Bay.

That represented a second top-10 in a major inside a year following another T9 in last July’s Open at Royal Liverpool and the 28-year-old from Offaly came back to Ireland to a host of good reviews which Lowry could do without as he aims to close in on a first tournament victory since the 2012 Portugal Masters.

Yet any hopes of a low-profile approach to the season’s third major were destroyed on Monday with the news of world number one McIlroy’s football kickabout injury. With McIlroy missing St Andrews and Graeme McDowell struggling for form, Irish expectation is now likely to focus even more on Lowry after his impressive performance at Chambers Bay.

He was surprised on his return from the US Open at the level of interest at home in his success on the West Coast and was keen to play down his rise to prominence that even his proud father Brendan has understandably been feeding into.

“I think people are getting very carried away,” Lowry said as he launched his first range of golfing apparel for Kartel as part of a new partnership with department store chain Heatons, whom he will represent as a brand ambassador. “I just saw an interview that my Dad did in the paper the other day and I didn’t even know he did it, talking about me winning majors. I wasn’t too pleased about that to be honest.

“So I think this talk about me winning majors has to stop. I’ve finished ninth twice in two Majors, I’ve only played in 10 majors and St Andrews will be my 11th. I’m still at an early stage in my Majors career but I’m not saying I can’t go and win it. I definitely can go and win it. I just would prefer people to stop talking about it.” The evidence suggests, however, that whatever his preference the Irishman is swimming against the tide and Lowry conceded he and coach Neil Manchip would be working hard to avoid the growing hype ahead of St Andrews.

“I don’t mind people talking about it, I just won’t listen to it! That’s something that Neil is very good with. Neil will have me in a good frame of mind next week. We’ll talk about it, what everyone’s saying and the hype and stuff but at the end of the day it’s just about getting back to basics and the stupid old clichés about hitting the first tee shot at St Andrews and seeing what happens from there.” More immediately, though, there is every incentive to continue his good form at Gullane in a field missing McIlroy but still packed with talent led by world top 20-ranked players Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker, Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar.

“I’m going to Scotland to win, I’m going to just play as well as I can and see what happens and try get myself in a good position, then I’ll go on to St. Andrews on Monday and see what happens up there,” Lowry said.

“You know me, I don’t get too far ahead of myself, as I just go with the flow. If I’m playing well then I’m playing well and I try take advantage of that. I feel like I’m playing well, I’ve played all right the couple of times I played last week, and I felt like I did play all right in Germany, I was just a little bit fatigued at times and made a few silly mistakes. I’m just trying to go up to Scotland and win the tournament. Scotland is a massive tournament, there’s a lot of big players playing and a lot of world ranking points available and a lot of race to Dubai money available as well.”