Shane Lowry wasn’t saying he would have flown home to watch Offaly’s U20 All Ireland win at the weekend if he had missed the cut at the Canadian Open. But he did know there was a direct flight from Toronto to Dublin…
Chatting yesterday to announce the dates for the Ballot of tickets to the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush he did not convince that he would not have had a seat on the plane and at Nowlan Park but he made the cut and so had to settle for watching it from the other side of the Atlantic.
“I finished on Saturday five minutes before throw-in. It’s like I played bad on purpose for the first two days”, he said with a twinkle.
“I jumped straight into the back of a courtesy car and watched the first half on my phone and then the second half in my hotel room.”
“I had the Offaly shirt on and I was jumping around like an eejit.”
“I am so proud of them.”
“I was very happy, but very homesick. It was great for Offaly hurling, great for those young lads, great for Michael Duignan and Lee O’Connor, all the lads who put the effort in. Very proud of what they’ve done. We have a long way to go to catch the big teams, but we showed that we are certainly on the way.”
Part of the celebrations afterwards were in the pub in Tullamore which he owns and he was getting all the pictures of all his family and friends.
Lowry is focused now though on this week’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio and then for the US Open at pinehurst next week.
He missed the cut by one stroke the last time it was played there but he sees himself as a better golfer now, and indeed a better golfer than when he won the open at Portrush in 2019.
“I feel I am a better player now than I was in 2019, there’s parts of my game that are definitely better.
“I’ve got more mature and my game has improved: living over here [in America] and playing in these big tournaments you have no choice but to improve.”
“You get the best facilities, the best courses, and you get to see where your game is against the best players in the world, so you know what to work on.”
“I drive the ball pretty good. My mid-to-long iron play is probably my strength, which is why I like the tougher tournaments and the bigger events, as you need to be a good mid-to-long iron player to do well in those.”
The Hurling celebrations are probably still continuing and then there is the Joe McDonagh Cup Final this weekend as well. But even they will pale should the favourite son come back to Ireland and win a second Open Championship in July 2025.
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