Shane Lowry still chuckles in retelling the story of an acquaintance who hired a single-propeller plane in order to get from Kerry to Portrush so that he could be there for the final day of the British Open in 2019. “You’d want to see the thing he flew up in, I’ve no idea what it cost him,” recalled Lowry of that famous day when he lifted the Claret Jug, to demonstrate how madcap it all was, and the efforts people went to be there.
Lowry – who is playing in this week’s Memorial tournament on the PGA Tour and has next week’s US Open at Pinehurst No 2 very much in his sights – was speaking to launch the R&A’s launch of tickets for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush next year, with a ticket ballot opening shortly which requires registration.
That Open in 2019 won by Lowry was a 237,750 sell-out for the week on the Causeway Coast – the largest attendance outside of St Andrews for the historic championship – and another sell-out is anticipated for next year’s event.
“When I sit down when I finish my career, if you were to give me all the tournaments that I played and pick one to win, it would be that one,” said Lowry of claiming his breakthrough Major on The Open’s return to Portrush, some 68 years after Max Faulkner’s win there. ”Obviously I’m very biased because I won it, but I believe it was one of the great Opens!”
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For Lowry that victory provided the highlight of a playing career that has also seen him win a WGC (the Bridgestone Invitational), a tour flagship event (the BMW PGA) and a Rolex Series (in Abu Dhabi) and he has his sights set on adding to those.
But, it all comes down to the Majors on a player’s CV when all is said and done, and Lowry heads into next week’s US Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina – and next month’s Open at Royal Troon – with good recent form, which has included partnering Rory McIlroy to a win in last month’s Zurich Classic and a tied-sixth place finish in the US PGA at Valhalla, where he shot a third round 62 that equalled the lowest score in a Major.
“I like the Majors to play difficult. I think Valhalla was a very long course, we got a lot of rain, and it played very soft. Anytime you give the best players in the world a soft course with perfect greens they’re going to shoot good scores. You can’t really do anything about that. Pinehurst will be different. I’m sure the USGA will set it up very difficult if US Women’s Open last week is anything to go by,” said Lowry, who missed the cut when the championship was last played at Pinehurst in 2014.
Chalk and cheese since those days, though. Lowry has moved stateside – en famille – since then in prioritising the PGA Tour. “I’ve not been back to Pinehurst since 2014 and I remember really struggling on the grass around there with the grain. I remember it being very difficult. Then I moved to Florida and I play on that grass week-in week-out, so I imagine it won’t cause me as much trouble as it did back then.”
Indeed, in looking back to that 2019 win and the sensational scenes it brought to Royal Portrush, Lowry is also convinced that he is a better player now than he was then.
As he put it “I think I’ve become more mature and my game has just improved from being over here (in the USA), and playing in these big tournaments you’ve no choice but to improve. You get the best facilities, you get the best golf courses and you get to see where your game is at against the best players in the world all the time, so you kind of know what to work on.
“I drive the ball pretty good, my mid to long iron play is probably my strength, which I think is why I like the tougher tournaments and the big tournaments, because you need to be a good mid to long iron player to be good in those. I think it’s just a general overall improvement on those things.”
All of which feeds into the glass half-full philosophy as he rolls on to the Memorial this week and the US Open next week and The Open at Troon next month . . . . and all leading up to a return to the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush next year.
*Shane Lowry was supporting the R&A’s launch of the ticket ballot for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, taking place in July 2025. The ticket ballot will open from 1st-31st July, 2024. The ticket ballot is available exclusively to members of One Club, a free-to-join digital membership programme
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