‘Difficult course suits Lowry’s game’
PAUL McGINLEY has tipped Shane Lowry to head up the Irish charge at the upcoming US Open at Winged Foot, a course he says will ‘shake the players’.
The Ryder Cup-winning captain and TV pundit said that the hugely testing set-up at the New York course could play into the hands of Offaly’s Lowry, especially after his close call at the US Open in Oakmont in 2016 and subsequent major breakthrough at the 2019 Open at Portrush.
‘He did it at Oakmont in 2016 when Dustin Johnson won. It was such a difficult golf course as well and yet he turned up there and was leading, could well have won that tournament. The US Open-style difficult golf course is one he’s played well on in the past. He’s certainly a guy that could do it.
‘If you’re looking for an Irish presence, unusually, you’d probably put him as more of a chance to win than Rory. The big story this week is going to be the golf course. The course is going to shake the players.
‘There’s going to be a big onus on the short game around this golf course,’ explained McGinley, who was promoting the fact that Sky Sports Golf will be carrying wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament.
‘The big narrative for me is, the golf course is going to be so difficult, and very different to what they’re used to playing, these guys.
‘It’s a long time since they’ve played a course where the winning score… the two US Opens that have been played here in the past have had winning scores of five over and seven over. I don’t know if it’s going to go out to that high but I certainly see something like level par.
‘Because the course is so difficult you’re not going to hit more than 11 or 12 greens a round. So there’s a big onus on the short game and, as we know, Shane’s short game is as good as anybody’s. He’s one of those guys who can find a bit of form and confidence very quickly.’
He also hopes that Lowry and McIlroy will head up a strong European challenge, remarking: ‘It’s too long since we’ve had a European contending for majors.’
A sign of the times is that the restriction on coverage means that McGinley will be in the Sky studio in London rather than on site.
The impact of Covid-19 also means all future Ryder Cups will revert to being staged in oddnumbered years – great news for Adare Manor as it will now host the 100th anniversary of the staging of the Ryder Cup from September 25-27, 2027.
‘Every cloud has a silver lining,’ says McGinley (below) with a smile.
‘It would be nice to wrap up the 100 at Adare Manor.’
As for the next version of the tournament which was put back until next year, McGinley feels that Europe and captain Padraig Harrington will benefit from the postponement, with so many American players in top form right now.
‘Another 12 months will help us in that regard.
‘They have a very hot hand at the moment. They are flying. Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas in particular. We revel in being underdogs. No matter what team we put out.’