Lowry set for early Ryder Cup points charge in 2021
Shane Lowry in action in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, November 13, 2020. Picture: Augusta National
Shane Lowry will rack up 12,000 air miles early next year as he bids to make a fast start in his bid for a place on Pádraig Harrington’s Ryder Cup team.
With Europe’s Ryder Cup campaign suspended until January 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Open champion will kick off the 2021 season with three events in four weeks in January and February.
The Offaly man will be looking to kickstart is campaign with another top performance in the Hong Kong Open, where he was second this year, before jetting on to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a tournament he won in 2019.
He will then take a week off and head to Saudi Arabia for the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers from February 4-7.
There will be huge Ryder Cup qualifying points on offer at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club with world No 1 Dustin Johnson and European Ryder Cup stars Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood joining defending champion Graeme McDowell, US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and current Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed.
There are nine automatic places in Harrington’s team up for grabs - four from the European Points List and five from the World Points List — with the Dubliner completing his side for the rescheduled matches at Whistling Straits in September with three wildcards.
Lowry, who lies 31st in the European Points List and 14th in the World Points List, has made no secret of his ambitions to make the side having failed to qualify in 2016 or 2018.
“I want to be on Padraig Harrington’s team and not only that, I want to go to America and win. That’s what drives me every day.”
“I want to sit back when I'm finished in 20 years time, when it's all over, and not have any regrets
I don't ever sit down and say 'I want to win this, this and this’,” Lowry said in a recent podcast with sponsor Paddy Poweri. “I just want to do everything in my power to be as good as I can be.
“There will be certain times when I'll do good things and others when it's not going well but I want to do as good as I can and be happy with that.
“If I do that, there will be success and tournament wins along the way. But if you ask me about the next year, I want to play in and win the next Ryder Cup. That's my next goal.
“I want to be on Padraig Harrington's team and not only that, I want to go to America and win. That's what drives me every day.
“If I don't make the Ryder Cup team, I will have to be playing very well closer to the time to earn a wildcard pick. That's just the way it is.
“I'm always going to be trying my best to make the team, but Padraig knows me well enough. He knows what I will bring to the team.
“I imagine I'll be pretty good in the team room, I feel my game is good enough to compete at that level, I drive the ball well and my short game is pretty good. That lends myself to being a good foursomes partner.
“But we've got another nine or 10 months of golf before that so I just have to play well, end of story. It's up to me to get picked, it's not up to him.
“It's up to me to play as well as I can but I do think if I do everything right in the next 10 months I'll be alright.”
