Lowry longing for his Open defence
The strongest field assembled for a mainstream PGA Tour event has gathered at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio — but you can hardly blame the man more accustomed to Dublin, Ireland, for thinking longingly about the biggest tournament of all. Shane Lowry thought he’d get his head around the fact he was not handing back the Claret Jug this week when he switched on his hotel television, flicked through the channels — and landed on one showing last year’s unforgettable final round of the Open at Royal Portrush. ‘I wouldn’t say it’s bittersweet being here, but it’s strange,’ said the man from Offaly. ‘I should be doing this press interview at Royal St George’s and tackling that course as opposed to being here. Like everybody, I wish things were back to normal and I was defending my title in front of 50,000 people. But I’ve never been one to dwell on things. We’ve got to be grateful we’re playing golf at all, and particularly an event as big as this one.’ Asked what he was missing most about not being in Kent this week, the Irishman (below) replied: ‘every time you play in the Open, it’s special. I miss the crowds, the buzz and the adrenaline you get from that, and I miss being announced on the first tee as the defending champion. ‘I wasn’t from a golfing family, but as soon as you start playing the game from where I grew up, you realise how big it is, and when Padraig harrington won it in 2007 and 2008, I saw the magnitude. But, like everything
I’m missing, I’m sure I’ll get to experience it next year.’ Lowry will be part of a notable first-round group today, alongside Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, a former winner of this prestigious event hosted every year by Jack Nicklaus. They will start 11 minutes in front of the most eye-catching group of all: Tiger Woods — making his first start since February in a tournament he has won five times — Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, looking to shake off his patchy form since the restart. ‘The field is stronger in world ranking terms than the last eight editions of the Masters, so it’s time to step it up,’ said world No 1 McIlroy.