Shane Lowry: Open win at Portrush adds pressure to double up at Royal Troon

Shane Lowry admits to nerves before playing and that winning the Open in 2019 has added pressure.

ADDED PRESSURE: Shane Lowry admits to nerves before playing and that winning the Open in 2019 has added pressure. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Five years already since Royal Portrush but Shane Lowry hasn’t forgotten what worked for him then. Not just over the four days but in the approaches. His form was good that year but he took a week off prior to that Open and, well, voila.

Events 12 months ago seem to have persuaded him to take that same angle of approach here. In 2023 he played some decent stuff at the Scottish Open and then went and missed the cut at Hoylake a week later, so the Renaissance Club was a no-no.

The alternative was four days of peace and quiet playing Hog’s Head with a few friends in pitch perfect 15-mph wind conditions and he made time to pop over to Wimbledon with his wife Wendy too.

The Royal Box, to be exact, and he took his seat having met with Novak Djokovic before the round of 16 clash with Holger Rune and an aftermath in which the Marmite Serb admonished the fans for their “disrespectful” ‘Ruuuuuune’ chants.

Djokovic had spent time with the European team before last year’s Ryder Cup win in Rome and Lowry was well impressed with the way the controversial tennis legend spoke to Luke Donald’s men before their clash with Team USA.

“To be honest, I said to Luke, ‘the speech he gave us would nearly be better for Bethpage next year’. When you watch him play it feels like the whole stadium is against him but he turns the other way where he feels like everyone is cheering for him. That’s how he does it.”

Lowry will hardly turn to that speech for inspiration for encouragement here on Scotland’s west coast this week given the Ayrshire region is already sprinkled lightly with a spread of fans with Irish accents long before the first tee approaches.

These early-week days make for the toughest of times.

This is Lowry’s 46th major, he has claimed eight top tens including that one title and made his debut in the big leagues as far back as 2010 but he still admits to a tightening of the stomach now at the age of 37.

Winning that Open in 2019 hasn’t insulated him from the nerves. If anything, it has left him more exposed.

“I think it adds more pressure. I feel like when you've tasted success, you just want it even more. That's just the way it is. I feel like I wanted so bad to win another one. Just give me one more and I'll be happy,” he laughed.

“That's all I want. Is it too much to ask for?” He’s in and around 25/1 in the odds and you can see why. His one cut in 15 starts was his first of the year, there was the win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Rory McIlroy and four other top tens and a tie for 19th at the US Open and tie for sixth at the US PGA.

He’s 15th in the FedEx rankings and way ahead of the field average in strokes gained overall, off the tee and on his approaches. The figures aren’t as impressive on the greens but Lowry feels he turned a corner with his putting at that Zurich win in late April.

It’s been anything but dull with a 62 at the US PGA in May followed less than a month later by an 85 at the final round of the Memorial Tournament but his penchant for digging in was there again with a tie for ninth at the Travelers late last month despite a period of illness.

“It has been good. Don’t get me wrong, it is my best season on the PGA Tour, so far. Golf is a funny game, isn’t it? In the last two months I have shots two 62s and an 85, and it is just funny. I feel like that is just golf, that’s what it is just like.

“You never take anything for granted. The good times don’t last forever and the bad times don’t last forever. You just have to get on with it when you can and ride the wave when you are playing well. Look, I feel like I am playing okay now.”

As Marisa Tomei would say, the biological clock is ticking. Lowry has spoken before about the sands of time and he is 37 now but Padraig Harrington made the point to him a few months back that he was the same age when putting together one of his best seasons.

The Dubliner was only weeks out from his 37th birthday when he retained his Open title at Royal Birkdale and standing at a career high of third in the global rankings. Ultimately, none of those things matter. Or his form, as Lowry said himself.

This is about the here and the now. Why not him again?