Shane Lowry is keen on that old adage “onwards and upwards”. Finally it would seem that he is living it out this season, with the top-10 finish at The Players providing the genuine momentum that he has been searching for, with the evidence provided by an upward move in Europe’s Ryder Cup qualifying (up to 14th on the world points list).
The quest to make Pádraig Harrington’s team at Whistling Straits come September will look after itself if Lowry continues to produce performances like he did (certainly on three of the four days) at TPC Sawgrass.
The Offaly man plans on maintaining that momentum at this week’s tour stop, the Honda Classic in Palm Beach, effectively a home gig for Lowry who is based in that area with his family these days, and then onward to next week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay in Austin, Texas.
Lowry is part of a three-man Irish contingent in the Honda, where he will be joined by Graeme McDowell – who is finding it hard to make a cut, his latest missed weekend seeing him drop from 110th to 117th on the world rankings – and Pádraig Harrington, a two-time past champion of this particular tournament.
For Lowry the key to contending comes down to how his putter behaves. His statistics for strokes gained off-the-tee (30th) and tee-to-green (34th) are trending in the right direction. There was a big improvement in his putting at Sawgrass (apart from Friday’s second round), and the intention for the player is “to keep rolling with that, keep trying my best, and you never know”.
“If I can putt like that over the next few months or even few weeks you can always do something special up in Texas or over at Augusta, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Friendship
Lowry is also hopeful that a growing friendship with Lee Westwood will rub off on him.
“I feel old, but for us younger lads or lads that haven’t been on the tour as long as him, you can see what a good mood does. And being in good form – what that does to change your mindset and change your game, and help you play well, and help you not take it too hard when times are bad.
“You can take a lot from his attitude and what he’s done over the last few weeks,” said Lowry, who has hooked up with Westwood for a two-day reconnaissance visit to Augusta ahead of next month’s Masters before heading back to Florida for the Honda.
Lowry’s plan is to play the Honda and next week’s limited field WGC matchplay (which offers a large amount of world ranking points and consequently Ryder Cup points) before taking “a much needed week off” before the Masters.
Harrington returns to tournament play at the Honda after missing out on the TPC where he was not exempt, while McDowell – with four missed cuts in five tournament outings – is battling to find any form.
Irish players
On the European Tour, Cormac Sharvin, Jonny Caldwell and Gavin Moynihan are the three Irish players in the field for the Magical Kenya Open, the first of back-to-back tournaments at Karen Country Club in Nairobi.
With no tournament on the LPGA Tour this week, in-form Leona Maguire – up to 128th in the Rolex world rankings on the back of her top-10 in the Drive On Championship last week – and Stephanie Meadow will return to action at next week’s Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California.
