Shane Lowry: 'I’m not counting my chickens, I haven’t talked to Luke for months'
Shane Lowry finished tied for 13th at the Tour Championship at East Lake. Pic: AP Photo/Mike Stewart
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry leave East Lake with the satisfaction of having qualified for the Tour Championship but the disappointment of not actually performing to the standards they would prefer in the PGA Tour season finale.
McIlroy played the weekend of 1-over-par (71-70) to finish the week 6-under and tied 23rd in the 30-man field after sitting T7 at the midway mark. Lowry couldn’t sustain the momentum of his Friday 63 and wound up in the middle of the pack tied for 13th at 10-under after rounds of 70-63-68-69.
“I got off to a slow start but played well and putted beautifully the last two days, but just couldn’t make anything today and I had loads of chances,” Lowry said. “The playoffs didn’t go the way I wanted but it’s been a good FedEx Cup season.”
While not contending in the end Sunday for the $10 million first prize and the FedEx Cup title that went along with winning the Tour Championship, both have bigger things on their minds in the month ahead.
With the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club and the DP World Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on tap in the first two weeks of September and the Ryder Cup at the end of the month at Bethpage Black, the next 30 days shape up to be as important as the recently concluded major season.
“I’ve still got a lot of golf coming up. I refuse to call this the end of the season,” said McIlroy. “Yeah, this week wasn’t – I hit it better. The things that I wanted to improve on this week, I did. Off the tee was much better. I’m probably leading strokes gained off the tee. I just couldn’t get the speed of the greens all week, and I struggled to see lines and to feel the speed. That was really the story of the week.
“But my game feels close. It certainly isn’t far away.”
McIlroy, who built his new home at Wentworth, is focused on what’s ahead. He’s tied with Seve Ballesteros for the most European Tour Order of Merit titles in history with six (2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2024).
“Those are two big weeks for me to try to extend my lead in the Race to Dubai,” he said of the Irish Open and BMW PGA.
“That’s become a pretty important thing for me. I’m chasing a little bit of history there. I want to put my head down and play well those couple weeks. They’re sort of like two home tournaments for me, Ireland being my national open, and then we live pretty much on the course at Wentworth.
“Big couple weeks to try to play well but also sharpen up different aspects of the game going into the Ryder Cup.”
It wasn’t hurting either Irishman’s feelings that European teammate Tommy Fleetwood was building a lead down the stretch in the U.S. PGA Tour’s climactic event ahead of seven Americans likely to be on the U.S. side at Bethpage Black, including U.S. captain Keegan Bradley and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
“If he gets it done today, that would be amazing. I think we'd all love him to,” said McIlroy of Fleetwood.
“But if for some reason he doesn’t, I think we all know it’s only a matter of time. He’s playing so well. He’s been so consistent for so long. But look, I really hope he gets it done today.”
Lowry, who didn’t get to receive points this week for the Tour Championship, got pipped by Rasmus Højgaard for the final automatic spot for the European Ryder Cup team and will have to rely for the third time on a captain’s pick from Luke Donald. Team Europe is expected to have the exact same DNA as the 2023 team that won in Rome, with only Rasmus replacing his twin brother Nicolai on the roster.
“I’m not counting my chickens, I haven’t talked to Luke for months,” said Lowry of the probability that he’ll get picked. “I said the beginning of the year that Ryder Cup was the biggest goal for me this season and I want to be on that team.”
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