Shane Lowry will head to Wentworth and next week’s BMW PGA Championship in confident mood despite shooting what he felt was the worst score he could have imagined for the Amgen Irish Open.
The world number 23 left the K Club on Sunday having carded a closing fourth round 71 to finish at seven under par for 72 holes. Hopes of a repeat of his 2009 heroics as an amateur in his home national Open all but disappeared with a third-round, two-under 70 on Saturday and 24 hours later it once again was a cold putter that was the root cause of his disappointment.
Yet Lowry struck a positive tone as he reflected on his week in Kildare and looked forward to the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament in England starting next Thursday, an event he won in 2022 at a course that ranks as one of his favourites. With a third Ryder Cup appearance for Team Europe looming against the USA at Bethpage Black in New York a fortnight later, the 36-year-old appears to be a great headspace.
“So many positives to take away from this week,” Lowry said. “I’m happy going into Wentworth next week. I’ll figure out my putting in the next few days, and I’ll be all right. I’ll give it a run next week at Wentworth.
“Things are going well. I feel like I’m in a nice place. I feel like the next two weeks are important in the build-up to the Ryder Cup, but I feel like I’ll be ready to go at Bethpage.
“A little bit of pressure and a little bit of outside noise for me this week. It’s kind of hard sometimes. Even though I’ve played in so many Irish Opens, it can be hard sometimes, and I feel like I handle a lot of it really well.
“I’m pretty proud of myself, pretty happy that way, but obviously I would have liked to have been higher up the leaderboard and given it a run, but it is what it is.”
Of his final round, which was likely to give him a top-20 finish at The K Club, though well back of the frontrunners including compatriot Rory McIlroy as they negotiated the back nine on Sunday afternoon, Lowry said it had been a hard day in difficult conditions as the blustery winds and showers of earlier in the week returned.
“It was a grind for the most part. I felt like I played nice. Yeah, 71, I probably should have done a few better in the end, but that’s the way it’s been all week.
“I feel like seven under for the tournament is probably by far the worst score I could be standing here (with). So a little disappointed, but what can you do? I tried my best, and that’s it.”
Tom McKibbin, McIlroy’s Holywood clubmate, finished a stroke further back than Lowry on six under par thanks to a three-under 68 on Sunday while Alex Maguire shot a second consecutive one-over 73, having reached his main objective of surviving the halfway cut and playing the weekend. The 24-year-old from Laytown & Bettystown finished on level par for the week to finish 50th of the 72 golfers who played all 72 holes to collect what is likely to be his biggest pay cheque since turning professional last year.
