Shane Lowry during practice at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

Twenty-two months is a long time without a win, but Shane Lowry knows the key to conquering the longest course in Major history is not big hitting or even magical putting but the six inches between his ears.

As Rory McIlroy proved by ending his 18-month drought in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow just nine days ago, a great attitude makes all the difference at the top of the game.

For all the seaside genius he possesses, it will be Lowry's mental wherewithal to roll with the inevitable punches that will decide his fate in this week's PGA Championship at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.

"I love big weeks," he said. "I love the competition, and I love competing at the highest level. You look forward to the ups and the downs and the distractions of it all, and it's just what a Major championship brings."

McIlroy stands head and shoulders about the rest when it comes to picking out the men to beat, but Lowry also knows the head will trump the heart on one of golf's toughest tests.

"Obviously, Rory, given his history, obviously winning," he said of his biggest rivals. "I always look at these weeks, and out of the top 10 in the world, definitely five will be there or thereabouts, so you need to beat those five.

"I think the good wind players will have a chance, but it really is whoever has the mental game and whoever chips and putts the best probably will lift the trophy. You look even at Quail Hollow, I think Rory was up there in scrambling and putting for the week, and that's probably the reason he won. That's what it is all about at this level."

When he won The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, Lowry's best work was done off the course with coach Neil Manchip, whose soothing tones paid dividends just last weekend, when he said just what the Offaly man needed to hear about his short game.

"I don't feel like I have chipped as well the last week or two, and I was out there on my own trying to figure it out, and we are just doing something, and he just says one little thing that triggers something in my head that makes it work better," Lowry said of Manchip's magical touch.

"I always feel he gets me in a good place to play golf, and that's why he is quite influential on me, and I feel like when Neil's out, I automatically become more comfortable."

Manchip is also the Irish team captain for this summer's Olympic Games in Japan and Lowry is already thinking ahead to Tokyo and dreaming big.

"I think it's so big that it will still go ahead," he said of fears that the Games will be cancelled because of COVID-19.

"I don't want to go there just to say I'm an Olympian. I want to go there to win a medal, so that's where my mind is at and what I'm preparing for come August."

First up is the second Major of the year and he's excited.

"It's a major, and it's another chance," the world No 48 said. "When you get to those four weeks of the year, you kind of realise it's a chance of doing something great and stamping your name on history.

"That's kind of the way I look at it. I've always said golf is a funny game…. you're only one week away from greatness."

With everyone from the world's top 100 bar Matthew Wolff teeing it up, getting in the right frame of mind is everything and pre-Major nerves are a good thing.

"Obviously, I like to feel like I am playing well, but I also think if I feel too comfortable, I get complacent, so it's nice to have a bit of anxiety there and a bit of nervousness there about how you were going to play," he said thoughtfully. "It kind of switches you on a little bit.

"I have been like that over the last week, not really overly happy with everything I am doing, but I know I am doing things well, and I'm swinging the club well. I am working away on my putting and chipping, and I feel like that's coming together nicely."

Comfort and familiarity is what he needs for what he expects will be a psychological as much as a technical test.

"There are a couple of blind tee shots that you just have to get comfortable with, so I am trying to get comfortable with how I am hitting the ball and what I am doing out there, allowing myself to play my best golf," he said.

Everyone will make mistakes, and when it comes to Pete Dye design that can be stretched to a whopping 7,876 yards, Lowry knows it's how he reacts to his mistakes that will decide his fate.

"You need to get comfortable to allow yourself to make mistakes," Lowry said. "It's about allowing yourself to make bogeys and allowing yourself to hit bad shots. And I think when you get comfortable doing that, that's when it leads to your best golf.

"So it is all of the above and all of those things. I want to get to Kiawah, get to know the golf course as best I can and get comfortable playing it. That's where I'll be, and hopefully, I can shoot a couple of decent rounds the first two days and put myself there or thereabouts come the weekend."