US PGA: Shane Lowry warming to the task ahead at much-changed Oak Hill

His approach, like many others, fails to carry and Shane Lowry’s shot into the ninth green stops short before letting gravity do its job. His ball rolls back down the false front, only stopped by a piece of netting, which course staff have diligently pinned down in the gathering area so that no damage can be inflicted on the turf before the PGA Championship.

For Lowry, practice days are familiarity gauges. How his game is. How much he likes, or dislikes, the course. Where his head is. How to plot a way around. Numerous factors; and, just like jotting digits into the boxes on a scorecard, it’s about making sure all the different components add up when it truly matters.

On first appearance, Lowry is a happy man. Physically, he looks well. Robbie Cannon’s workouts are doing the job. Mentally, too, he looks good, all smiles and mixing those quick one-liners that are part of his DNA with bouts of quiet study time. This is his 12th appearance at the PGA Championship, but it is only the second time that he has made a repeat visit to a previous venue. Whistling Straits was the first, having played there in 2015 five years after his first appearance there.

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On his last championship outing here in 2013, Lowry played with Darren Clarke in the final round and finished in tied-57th place. Much has changed since then. He is a different player – a Major champion – and any recollection of how the course played a decade ago is pretty much irrelevant given the dramatic renovations conducted since then, which has included the removal of thousands of trees.

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“You’re getting old when you’re coming back to Major venues,” quipped Lowry. “I don’t remember the course. I was sure when I got here I’d remember some holes, but, yeah, nothing at all.”

Probably no bad thing if truth be told, for Lowry is a good man for working with a fresh canvas. “If you were to ask me to describe a Major championship venue, I would describe this. That’s just what it is. It’s there in front of you. It’s hard. You’re going to have to play golf and it’s kind of no messing about. I do like it like that. You just have to go out and perform and everything needs to go well. But I do like what I see.”

Lowry is still waiting for a spark to the season, generally his play from tee-to-green being on song only for the scoring clubs to be out of sorts. He missed the cut in his last tour appearance in Quail Hollow but, strangely enough, didn’t feel down and out. Anything but.

“It’s probably the best I’ve ever felt after missing the cut, which is very weird. Why was I happy? I felt like the only part of my game that let me down was my chipping, my scoring clubs, and I did a bit of work on those last week. And it’s funny, when that part of my game is not firing I feel like I don’t need much to get it back.”

And, of course, for the putter to heat up. “I need to put it into a furnace,” joked Lowry. Maybe not so drastic a measure, but, for sure, it would be nice for the old blade to heat up somewhat.

Follow all of the action from Oak Hill via The Irish Times liveblog, beginning at lunchtime on Thursday at irishtimes.com/sport