OPEN AND SHUT
Lowry can’t wait to get going again after lockdown took shine off his Portrush win
SHANE LOWRY gave the Claret Jug a good polish last week but admits that some of the shine has gone from his year in office as the Open champion. No golfer exhibited more pride in the role as the Irishman enjoyed one scrapbook adventure after another. But, like everything else, that all came crashing to a halt when the pandemic struck.
Lowry, who stayed in Florida during the lockdown, is thankful for the chance to head back out to Dallas tomorrow for the resumption of the PGA Tour on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge. It will stop him thinking back.
‘Look, I know it’s not important in the grand scheme of things,’ he says. ‘Not when my wife, who was a nurse, has been on the phone to her mates back home and we’ve been hearing about what they’ve been dealing with on the front line.
‘ But selfishly speaking for a minute, yeah, I’m disappointed. I was looking forward to that run from the Players Championship in March, teeing it up at the Masters and then a couple of weeks ago I should have been playing g in the Irish Open.
‘ Imagine how that would have been at Mount Juliet, going there as the Open champion, just an hour from where I grew up and the weather was incredible. One or two people would have shown up.
‘Then we’d have been on to the US Open and the build-up to the Open itself. I know people are saying I’ll still be Open n champion this time next t year but I’m not sure it t will feel the same.’
You know where Lowry y is coming from when he e starts talking glowingly about his first eight months in office, following his unforgettable win on home turf at Royal Portrush.
‘I had a couple of quiet weeks early on and people would start asking if it was the pressure of winning the Open and I’d have to stop them there and then,’ he said. ‘I just don’t understand how you can put any negative spin on being Open champion. To me, it’s an absolute privilege and I love the things I’ve done, starting with the celebrations the week after.
‘Then walking out at Croke Park with the trophy, having it on the dinner table for Christmas lunch, taking my team out for a meal at the end of the year and drinking nice wine out of it. Being considered a marquee player with people wanting you t o play in t heir tournament. All cool stuff like that and that’s why it feels disappointing that it ended so abruptly.’
For the first six months, the Claret Jug was on the kitchen table at his home in Ireland. ‘When you see it every morning as you’re making a coffee, there is an element of taking it for granted,’ he said.
‘I wouldn’t pay it a lot of attention and then someone would come round to the house and suddenly you’re aware again of how much it means and especially to golfers. They can’t believe it’s right there in front of them. I’ve seen people pick it up and cry. In our world, it literally is as good as it gets.’
Lowry, wife Wendy and their daughter Iris, three, have been living in a rental home in West Palm Beach, close to the Bear’s Club, founded by Jack Nicklaus — and he has been keeping good company.
‘ I’ ve played a l ot with Rory McIlroy and had a couple of games with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka,’ he said. ‘I’d say Rory’s got a lot more of my money than I’ve got of his and he’s just so good there are days when he makes me feel very bad about my game.
‘ But I look upon playing with these guys as an investment. It’s good to compare yourself with t he best and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with a card in my pocket.’
Lowry’s big goal for the year was always to make the Ryder Cup team captained by close friend Padraig Harrington. ‘It’s the one thing we never talk about when we speak so I honestly don’t know whether it will be played this year,’ he said. ‘The only thing I can do is play good golf to make sure I’m on the team if it does happen.’
In August, at the US P GA Championship, Lowry will be announced on the first tee at a major as the Open champion, 382 days after he won the title. When his mate Rory won the Open in 2014, he had to wait just 18 days.
‘That’s just crazy, isn’t it?’ said Lowry. ‘I know I’ve missed out on a lot of stuff but I know how fortunate I am to be playing on the PGA Tour, when so many lives have been badly affected. It’s time to get back out there and enjoy the rest of it.’