Shane Lowry returns to the fairways for the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village this week determined to remain patient and wait for his putting touch to return.

The Offaly man (33) won't get to defend The Open title until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but while he's been busy at his Florida base recording a 14-episode instructional series, Lessons with a Champion Golfer, he’s also been working on his putting.

"The last few weeks I've struggled on the greens," he said of his first three events since the PGA Tour resumed (MC, MC, T60). "Tee to green I've been fine. Tee to green I've been good enough to be up there, sort of nearly competing or getting there or thereabouts, but if I can just get better on the greens, I feel like I'll be there or thereabouts.

"But it's just for me, it's all about waiting for it to happen and just not trying to force it too much. I sometimes can force it too much and try too hard to be to play well and to do well, so it's just kind of all trusting the process and waiting for it all to happen."

Hosted by noted golf instructor and GOLF Channel personality Martin Hall and produced on location at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, the new season of Lessons with a Champion Golfer, which premieres exclusively today on GOLFPASS, will be a 14-episode deep dive of instruction, providing a rare, insider's look into Lowry's practice regime.

Watch a Preview of Lessons with a Champion Golfer with Shane Lowry HERE

He covers a selection swing methods, drills and tips used throughout his career, from bombing the driver to chip shots around the green.

He also shares thoughts about his mental game – thought processes during the golf swing and some of his personal traits that may go against common practices.

He chats below about the new series with Golf Channel's Gary Williams, but when it comes to his game right now, he believes that all that's missing is some form on the greens and that ability to get out of his own way and express himself through his golf.

After all, it’s what he believes made all the difference at Royal Portrush 12 months ago, when he claimed his first major title.

“Just great golf. I think I putted great. I holed out very well. You know, and I just kind of let myself play. I think letting myself play was the big thing and just letting myself go out there and express myself on one of the best links golf courses in the world because we all know links golf can be a bit tricky, so you just kind of have to take the good bounces and the bad bounces as one and see where it leaves you at the end of week. But yeah, just letting myself go out and express myself that week was that's what it took for me to win.”

GARY WILLIAMS: I want to go back to the day you found out that your defence of the Claret Jug and The Open Championship was going to be postponed and extended. What were your feelings like that day?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it was strange. You know, selfishly speaking I was very disappointed because obviously, I was looking forward to having all my firsts, I suppose, as The Open Champion, getting to go to Augusta and getting to go to the Irish Open as The Open Champion and then obviously getting to defend my title, which would have been coming up soon, and to getting to do that would have been obviously I was looking forward to doing all that. Obviously, look, I'm going to get to do all that in the next few months or the next year or so, but look, it's just strange times, and the R&A made the decision that they had to do it for their own reasons, and look, we just have to deal with it. Like I said, it's strange times in the world, and we just kind of have to deal with it and move on.

GARY WILLIAMS: People who have watched you, particularly in winning The Open Championship, they see that affable quality that you have, but I also know that you're a very thoughtful person. When you look at the Claret Jug, whatever time you take to pick it up and you look at the base and you look at the rings around it, are there a few names that you constantly get fixated on or a part of the base that you just always look at?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, well, you know, it's I mean, it's an amazing piece of history. The more you look at it, the more you actually realize how unbelievable it is. Obviously, like I go back, and I look at Old Tom Morris's name on it, and I look at obviously Tiger Woods and all the greats like Tiger, Jack, Arnold Palmer, Bobby Jones. It's kind of the who's who of golf as one of them, and it's just amazing that I can say my name is on that trophy, as well, and I'll be forever grateful for that.

GARY WILLIAMS: You know, Shane, when you go look and you think of the images of you closing out The Open, Portrush was lit. It was lathered up, and it was extraordinary to watch it, to hear it. Now you don't hear much of anything. Have you found it harder to concentrate with no sound, or is it still a bigger challenge with all the distractions?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, no, I think the no fans is obviously it's different, but I don't find it any more difficult. Like I've not been in contention on a Sunday since we've been back, but I can imagine like Thursdays and Fridays are normal, and then when you get to the weekend and you have a chance to win or a chance to do very well, I can imagine that that's a bit different. You're not able to feed off the crowd or anything like that.

Hopefully, I get to experience that in the next few weeks, but it's kind of it is one of those where I just feel like we're very lucky to be back out playing golf. I'm very happy to be back out playing golf. I think the PGA TOUR have done a great job, and obviously there's a few distractions that goes along with it, but it is what it is, and like I said to everyone out there that I play with or that I'm around, I'm not complaining because I'm just happy to be back doing my job.

GARY WILLIAMS: You mentioned the PGA TOUR. You also have been a really proud European Tour member. They're getting ready to reengage and created some events and going to kind of cluster to keep people to not have to travel an awful lot. What do you think on the horizon, though, for the European Tour beyond this year? Are you concerned at all?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, obviously we're in very difficult times at the minute. The European Tour I can imagine have a tough job on their hands over the next few months to pull some events together and to try and create a schedule for their players, but I think Keith Pelley and his team have done a great job up until now. They've created a great Rolex Series and were playing for an awful lot of money on the European Tour before all this happened, and I trust them, and I really feel like they will come good and they will provide us with good events.

It's just a matter of when the world is going to get back to normal and when we're actually able to travel the world because as the PGA TOUR you can stay in the one country and you can stay in America, but the European Tour obviously is all around the world. So that's I think that's probably going to be their biggest challenge is to try and create a bubble and to get people travelling around the world to play in golf tournaments. But like I said, I trust the people at the top, and I think they will do a good job.

GARY WILLIAMS: Shane, with respect to your game, when you reach a crescendo and win a major championship, you would say, well, just refine what you're doing, stay sharp with your skill set. Is there an area where you're intentionally working on to get better in that area?

SHANE LOWRY: I'm just trying to become a consistently better golfer than I have been. Like it's you know, I've won some big tournaments over the years but have not been as consistent as I would have liked. You know, I really feel like my couple of weaknesses, I need to sharpen them up. Like I've struggled on the greens the opening weeks. The last few weeks I've struggled on the greens. Tee to green I've been fine. Tee to green I've been good enough to be up there, sort of nearly competing or getting there or thereabouts, but if I can just get better on the greens, I feel like I'll be there or thereabouts. But it's just for me, it's all about waiting for it to happen and just not trying to force it too much. I sometimes can force it too much and try too hard to be to play well and to do well, so it's just kind of all trusting the process and waiting for it all to happen.

GARY WILLIAMS: We would have been on the embarking on The Open Championship week here just in the next week or so. Instead, we're about three weeks out from the first major championship week of the year, which is going to conclude at Augusta in November. What are your thoughts about Augusta National a week and a half before Thanksgiving in this country?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's going to be weird, isn't it, because you know, we've never been there we're always there in April and the weather is always nice. I can imagine November up there, could be a little bit tricky with weather, could be difficult. But it's like I said earlier, I'm just happy to be back playing golf, and I hope everything goes and runs smoothly. I hope I'm looking forward to obviously playing the PGA, getting up to Winged Foot for the U.S. Open and obviously concluding the major season then at Augusta, which will be weird to be playing at that time of year. But you know, when we get there, we'll all be very happy to be there, and there will be someone that will be very happy on the 18th green on Sunday.

GARY WILLIAMS: You have a new 14-part series, instructional series along with the great Martin Hall that is going to be available on GOLFPASS. Tell us a little bit about what you think the viewer is going to get out of this (Lessons with a Champion Golfer).

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think obviously I think for me, I think the viewer will get out how simple I try and make the game. You know, it is a very difficult game that we play, but I try and simplify it as much as I can and to just get my thoughts on everything, on my whole game and see the way I go about my business. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I really enjoyed filming it, and yeah, should be good.

GARY WILLIAMS: Lessons with a Champion Golfer, what was your favourite part of doing this, because look, for people who don't know, when you're taping stuff, there's a lot of stopdowns and getting in a rhythm is not that easy. What did you enjoy the most?

SHANE LOWRY: : Yeah, I just, first of all, I couldn't believe how big the production was, but yeah, I just enjoyed what Martin wanted to find out about my game. I was fortunate enough to have my coach was onsite at the time, so we had a bit of a talk about it and the way we go about things. You know, just all of it, in general, is really interesting, especially my short game. I think people will be interested in to find out the way I go about my short game and how I practice and how I play and the different types of shots I can play. Like I said, it should be interesting.

GARY WILLIAMS: Yeah, Graeme McDowell, your good friend, has often said that in terms of putting, chipping, you are as good as anybody. It's a 14-part there are 14 episodes here. Explain to people, is there a natural progression through the bag to the conclusion?

SHANE LOWRY: : Yeah, I would say so. We start, and we go through the whole game like it's everything because obviously there's no one part of this game that you can focus on. You need to focus your time on every little part of the game. It goes right down through my bag, right down to my short game, my putting, too, my long game, my driving and how I even think about things mentally when I'm out there. Yeah, it should be great.

GARY WILLIAMS: You want people to listen intently. Be honest; are you a good listener? Were you a good student as a kid?

SHANE LOWRY: Absolutely not, no. Fortunately, I'm somewhat good at golf, and yeah, I've worked hard at golf over the years, but no, I wasn't very good at listening. When it comes to golf, I am because it's something that I love doing and I love practising, and I love playing, and I love competing, so yeah.

GARY WILLIAMS: Clearly, it shows. Lessons with a Champion Golfer, 14episode series available on GOLFPASS. Shane, good luck with it. We're very much looking forward to it.

SHANE LOWRY: : Thank you. Look forward to it, as well.

GARY WILLIAMS: What was your first thought after winning The Open?

SHANE LOWRY: I just couldn't believe it to be honest. It almost felt walking down 18 was like an out of body experience. It was one of those things that you have to pinch yourself, and the few mornings after waking up was incredible just to sit there and look at the Claret Jug. But yeah, sort of kind of not disbelief because I always kind of believed in myself, but yeah, somewhat disbelief anyway.

GARY WILLIAMS: Shane, how did winning The Open change your life in any way?

SHANE LOWRY: I don't think I don't think it changed me personally, you know, how I feel about things. I think you know, it just made me obviously I'm a little bit busier than I used to be, but it comes with the territory, and you like to think that you're a bit more sought after. I think it just changed me when I get to tournaments, I kind of need to go about my business a little bit different than I used to. But I'm getting used to it now. But personally, I don't feel like it changed me in any way, I still think I'm the same person I was this time last year.

GARY WILLIAMS: What was the key to winning that week?

SHANE LOWRY: Just great golf. I think I putted great. I holed out very well. You know, and I just kind of let myself play. I think letting myself play was the big thing and just letting myself go out there and express myself on one of the best links golf courses in the world because we all know links golf can be a bit tricky, so you just kind of have to take the good bounces and the bad bounces as one and see where it leaves you at the end of week. But yeah, just letting myself go out and express myself that week was that's what it took for me to win.

GARY WILLIAMS: What was the critical moment, whether it was a moment or a stretch of holes in your mind?

SHANE LOWRY: Um, well I think the Saturday evening was very significant. You know, the last I birdied four of the last five to take a four-shot lead. You know, I think I played a lot of guys out of the tournament then. Like a lot of guys then didn't have a chance to win, which was huge. But obviously, people will look back at the first hole on Sunday and saying it was critical because there was a chance of a three-shot swing there. I personally will look back at the 10th hole on Sunday. Myself and Tommy had two four-footers. I holed, he missed, and for me, I felt like I had the tournament in my hands then and I could just kind of play my way in and try and not make too many big mistakes and win the tournament from there.

GARY WILLIAMS: How is your game in 2020 at a time when it's odd to do an assessment because you haven't played a lot of competitive golf? Where are you with your game?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's funny, you know, I got off to a bit of a slowish start in Europe and then I came over here to America, had a decent week at the Honda Classic, and I went to the Players Championship and I was feeling great about my game even though I didn't have a great opening round. I was really feeling like my game was exactly where I wanted it to be, and then we had a huge break. I've come back out, I've missed two out of the three cuts, and I had a pretty average week in Hartford. But all in all, I feel like my game is really good. I feel like I've just struggled on the greens a little bit, and I just need to build up a little bit of confidence on the greens over the coming weeks, and I feel like I'm right where I want to be. But my all-around game feels very good, it's just kind of on the greens I need to improve.

GARY WILLIAMS: They say moms are always right – your mom picked you to win the Irish Open, and she took home more dough than you! Were you happy for her or jealous

SHANE LOWRY: Oh, obviously, I was happy for her. She bought me a new laptop at the time over winning, so I was pretty happy with that.

GARY WILLIAMS: What is your favourite course to play?

SHANE LOWRY: My favourite course in the world to play is Augusta, yeah. It doesn't get any better than that, so...

GARY WILLIAMS: What do you have in your golf bag that no one else does?

SHANE LOWRY: I don't think I have anything in my bag that nobody else has. What do I have in my bag? No, I just no, I don't really have I just have the normal just have the same as everyone else.

GARY WILLIAMS: How do you mark your golf ball?

SHANE LOWRY: So I'm very lucky; I put a shamrock on it, but I used to draw it on there myself, but the better you get, the more you seem to get in this game, so Srixon now mark the balls for me. They stamp it on them, a shamrock on and they put a black line on it, as well.