Open delay? Bring it on because I get to be champ longer
Lowry reckons event getting green light any time this year will be a result – even if Ryder is a week later
SHANE LOWRY says teeing up in The Open and Ryder Cup back to back is a logjam he’d happily live with – if anything it means the Claret Jug is his for longer.
Golf chiefs are seeking to rejig the calendar to allow Lowry to stage his defence in September before the Masters in October or November.
The first big change yesterday saw the US Women’s Open pushed back from June to December.
And golf ’s top brass are trying to piece together a jigsaw of potentially playing all four men’s Majors and the Ryder Cup in a late-season feast – if the coronavirus is under control.
The R&A are “continuing to work through our options” for The Open, which is set to start on July 16.
Lowry, who soaked up an emotional victory at Portrush, said: “I’d love to defend the tournament when it’s supposed to be on in July.
“But if it was on at all this year then I think it would be a result.
“I also would be happy whatever they decide as it means remaining The Open champion longer.”
Options being explored by the R&A include cancellation or playing the 149th Championship at Royal St George’s from September 17 – eight days before the Ryder Cup in the US.
Lowry said: “I’ve not played any Ryder Cups and that’s my No.1 goal this year, so if I am going after The Open I’ll be happy.
“The only thing is the 24 players playing in the Ryder Cup will be playing in The Open as well. “They’ll all have to make that trip to Whistling Straits on Sunday evening or Monday and get
on with the week.
“It’ll be a complaint that I would be happy to have in September.”
The US PGA is optimistically looking to reschedule from May to August, while June’s US Open will be postponed next week. But Scot Sandy Lyle, a twotime Major winner, said: “The whole world is hurting that badly that we maybe ought to give the Major season a miss. “It could be an awful lot of cramming eventwise. We ought to almost delete the year and make sure everyone is healthy and all the problems are ironed out.