Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’d love things back to normal but they’re not
CHAMP LOWRY ADMITS OPEN DEFENCE SORROW
REIGNING Open champion Shane Lowry is excited to be competing in the Memorial Tournament today but it is not lost on the Irishman where he would have been were it not for Covid-19.
The world’s best golfers should have been at Royal St George’s in Kent on England’s south-east coast this week to contest the year’s final Major championship.
“It is strange, like I should be in St George’s today probably sitting in the pressroom there as defending champion and wondering how I’m going to go out and tackle that golf course as opposed to being here in Ohio,” Lowry said yesterday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“It’s just very strange times for us at the minute, isn’t it?”
One benefit for Lowry, who won the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush by six shots last July, is that he gets to hang on to the coveted trophy for another year.
But while Lowry, like any golfer, would rather be competing in a Major this week than at a spectator-free event in Ohio, he is not wasting energy dwelling on what could have been.
“Obviously I’d love to be in St George’s defending, I’d love if we were playing in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people this week,” said Lowry. “I’d love, like everybody in the world, if things were back to normal but they’re not and we have to get on with that.”
Since the PGA Tour resumed in June after a three-month Covid-19 hiatus, Lowry has missed two cuts followed by a share of 60th place and a tie for 39th last week.
He will play the opening two rounds this week at Muirfield Village alongside five-times Major champion Phil Mickelson and Englishman Justin Rose.
Despite the venue, Lowry is keen to jumpstart his season and make the most of the opportunity and try to capture a third PGA Tour win.
“Look, we’re here, this is the biggest tournament in the world this week – the Memorial here – and this is a huge tournament in its own right so I’m very happy to be competing here,” said Lowry. “But obviously I’d love to be in St George’s.”