Bubble won’t burst Open champ Shane
DEFENDING champion Shane Lowry says he can’t wait to tee off at Royal St George’s.
The Irishman has had to wait an extra year to defend the Claret Jug and admits the lack of hype thanks to the Covid bubble helps his chances of landing another victory.
He said: “I reckon if it was a normal Open and I was defending I might have a couple more things to do, so it probably is working in my favour a little bit as regards my performance.
“It’s a bubble, but I don’t think I’ll be doing anything different than I normally do.
“I come to the golf course, I play and I go home and we have dinner in the house, and that’s it.
“You don’t do anything else the week of big tournaments.
“You’re kind of resting up as much as you can, and you’re obviously here playing and practising all day, every day when you’re here.”
Lowry is in good form heading to Kent having come fourth in the USPGA Championship and playing well in the Irish Open.
He says playing on empty courses held him back last season and his game is better now.
Lowry added: “I look back on 2020 as a season and, without making excuses too much, not playing in front of fans doesn’t do it for me.
“That’s just the way it is. I struggled last year coming out of lockdown. I was playing great. I’ve never played as much golf in my life, and I just was stale when I got out there. I just couldn’t get it going.
“I hope that I can be competitive. I’d like to put up a good defence of my trophy and I’d give anything to have a chance to win come the weekend. I’m out there planning for that over the next few days, and we’ll see how it goes.”
One player who won’t be facing Lowry is Zach Johnson who had to pull out after testing positive for Covid.