Shane Lowry interview: 'Peaked? The older I get, the greater the want'

'I've realised what I need to do,  day after day, is keep giving it 100pc. Whether it be training, golf practice, playing a tournament round, just doing my best each day. And I think that builds up to something good at the end'

STILL DREAMING: Lowry in the players' locker room at Wentworth with the BMW PGA Championship trophy. Pic: Andrew Redington, Getty Images

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's Shane Lowry, flying higher than ever before in terms of confidence as the American Dream gives him the consistency to challenge for the biggest titles in golf.

The 2019 Open champion admits he doesn't win as often as many of the world's top players, but when he does, he wins big and feels he has what he describes as "fire in my belly" to achieve even more extraordinary feats.

The Ryder Cup is Lowry's number one goal for next year as he believes that living in the US, where the weather and the facilities make it easier to prepare for every big event as well as possible and not just contend for a second Major win but hone his game for September's clash with the USA in Rome.

His passion for the Ryder Cup is such that he's keen to gel with Seamus Power and rekindle his relationship with Tyrrell Hatton in January's Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi, which will give Europe a chance to form partnerships to combat the established US pairings.

"I think it's very important for me this year," Lowry said of the Ryder Cup. "Obviously, the majors are very important for me, but the Ryder Cup is up there. I don't only want to be a part of the team, I want to be part of a winning team. So that's the plan. That's the goal.

"I wouldn't be gone playing the Hero Cup in January if it wasn't a Ryder Cup year. So that's how much it means to me. I'm not going out of my way, but I feel that might help, me, us, whoever in September."

Lowry remains his biggest critic, as he showed at the Masters, where he took out his frustrations on his caddie Brian "Bo" Martin en route to a career-best tie for third.

"I have very high expectations of myself, obviously," he admitted on a trip to Horizon Sport's Dublin headquarters, where he's already told them he's paying for the Christmas party this year after banking $8.57 million, including a $3 million bonus from the Player Impact Programme.

"I want to go to the Masters and I want to compete. I want to go to the PGA and the US Open and the British Open and I want to compete. I might get to Augusta this year in bad form, and I might not be playing well. But what I do is I build up to try and give myself the best opportunity to do it. And that's all I can do.

"I think the older I've got, the greater my want to win and my want to do better. But I think I've realised now what I need to do to get to there, I just need to day after day, keep giving it 100pc. Whether it be training, golf practice, playing a tournament round, just doing my best each day. And I think that builds up to something good at the end."

He's 21st in the world — not quite the career-high 16th he reached after The Open — but just one more win away from a new best, confident he can go toe-to-toe with all comers now that he has a putting game to match his other skills.

"I go through my game and I'm not sitting here going, I really need to change this or I need to work on that this winter," he said. "I feel like all parts of my game just need to be sharp.

"I would have sat here a couple years ago and said, yeah, I was a streaky putter; maybe I had a loose long iron shot in the bag. But I feel now my game just needs to be sharp. And once it's sharp. I feel like I can compete with anyone to be honest."

He had his best season on tour since his triumph at Royal Portrush with his win in the BMW PGA at Wentworth his reward after a series of near misses throughout the year.

At 35, he believes he is maturing as a player and a person and insists he's more driven to succeed than ever before.

"I'm still hard on myself," he said, pointing to that inner drive. "But I've got fire in my belly. I've got a desire, a want, to be the best I can be and to win big tournaments and to do it.

"Yeah, maybe I am a little bit hard on myself at times. But I don't think I'm too hard on myself where it gets in my way. I don't think I'm like that anymore. Maybe it was like that in the past, but definitely not anymore."

He says he'd be happy to win "only" six more times before he's done and given his penchant for the big ones, who is to disagree with him.

While he has wondered if he's peaked, he's quick to dismiss all doubts.

"F**k, I don't know. I hope not," he joked. "I've talked about this, and I've thought about this. Have I peaked? The Open is probably going to be the best thing I will ever do in the game. But I'm comfortable with that. And I think as long as I'm comfortable with that, I've got other goals that I want to achieve, and they're still going to be amazing.

"Like Wentworth was one of the greatest feelings ever this year. But it wasn't The Open. But that's okay. Do you know what I mean? So that's how I feel about it. And I don't think I've peaked. (Laughing) Ask Padraig Harrington. He doesn't think he's peaked yet either.

"I think golfers, we all think we've got a good year in us, regardless of what age you are, what you've done. Do I feel like 2023 can be my best year? Of course I do. I wouldn't be. I wouldn't be going out to compete if I didn't think I could. In the last 13 years, I've won six times. For the next 13 years, if you give me six big ones again, I'd be happy with 12 big ones in my career."

The Majors will always be his top goals, but he sees them as a complement to creating great Ryder Cup form and winning back that trophy is a huge motivating factor for him next year.

"It put something different in me that I never thought was there," he said of the 2021 match where he was one of Europe's most passionate players in that record defeat at Whistling Straits where he showed his passion when he holed that putt in the Saturday afternoon fourballs with Hatton to beat Tony Finau and Harris English and win his first, and only, point.

"I'll never forget being there because there were no European crowds there and it was all American fans, I said to myself, no matter what happens, no matter what I do, I'm just gonna take it easy, pick the ball out of the hole and walk off the green," he recalled.

"I remember holing a 30-footer for a half on the fourth hole playing with Rory on the first day and I just went bananas. I have no idea what happened or how it happened to me. And it just happened. And I did that for the rest of the week. And I loved every minute of it.

"Obviously, it was hard. It was hard to get beaten the way we did. It was hard to get beaten by as much with Padraig as captain. But it was a great experience."

As for the Horizon Irish Open, which has moved from July to September thanks in part to Lowry's urgings, he's expecting a mega-field at The K Club with the Ryder Cup picks to be finalised the following Monday.

"It's three weeks before the Ryder Cup next year," he said. "Obviously, a past Ryder Cup venue like The K Club will be great.

"I think they'll get a way better field than they would have got in late June or July. It's going to be a great venue, a great tournament and there are going to be great players there as well."