Shane Lowry’s play on the DP World Tour may not have been strong enough for automatic qualification for the DP World Tour Championship, but the Offaly man’s selection for the European Ryder Cup team afforded him a wildcard invitation and he’s making the most of it.
Playing alongside fellow Ryder Cupper and special invitation recipient, Ludvig Åberg, in the first group out on Thursday morning, Lowry came roaring out of the traps, birdieing each of the opening four holes as a combination of fine tee-to-green play and a hot putter saw him hole almost 60 feet’s worth of putts and race to the top of the leaderboard.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t build on the fast start, carding a bogey on 12 and a closing birdie on 18 along with 12 pars to get back to that number, and he admitted to being a little frustrated not to have pushed the bar higher, feeling that his score was “okay,” but that the scoring could get low in the later stages.
“I got off to a very hot start and I didn’t really do much for the rest of the day,” he conceded. “Nice to birdie the last. It was kind of a frustrating day before that. Four-under is okay around here. I think the scoring is going to be good in the afternoon. The course is there for the taking.
“We had not much wind this morning which was nice. I’d love myself a later tee time tomorrow.”
Lowry has been one of the best and most consistent ball-strikers in world golf this season, but he’s often been missing that little bit of luck on the greens and that was the case once again on the way home as several good putts burned the edge of the hole and refused to drop.
“I think I did everything pretty well,” he said. “I hit a lot of good putts in the middle of back nine and nothing really fell for me. Just happens sometimes, and I’m happy I’m going to go back and chill out and watch some golf in the afternoon and go out tomorrow and give it a go.”
Close friends with Rory McIlroy, Lowry will undoubtedly be hoping to see his fellow countryman claim a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy as the leading player in the Race to Dubai on Sunday evening, but admitted that there’s not much he can gain from watching the four-time course winner tackling the Earth Course layout at Jumeirah Estates.
“I love watching golf. I’ll go back and watch Rory play a few holes,” he said, adding: “Rory plays the golf course different than I do. Not many notes I can take on him.”
The ideal scenario for Lowry would be for both him and Rory to be on the 18th green on Sunday afternoon, with Lowry collecting the tournament trophy and McIlroy the Harry Vardon Trophy, and it would be the ideal way to sign off on a year that’s been memorable in so many ways but has lacked one significant thing.
“The only thing I didn’t do so far this season is win,” he said. “I’ve got one more chance this week. Look, no matter what happens this week, I’ll sit there at Christmas and I’ll have my Ryder Cup trophy on the table and I think it will be a pretty nice year.
“But a win this week would definitely be the icing on the cake.”
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