Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 2 tee during Round 1 of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 8, 2021.

There's no mystery to Shane Lowry.

In a sport where corporate logos are plastered over every spare inch of sartorial real estate, the Clara man wears his heart on his sleeve.

If you are wondering how Lowry is playing, just look at his face and his bearing.

Coming down the 72nd hole in The Open at Royal Portrush with a six-shot lead, he was radiant. After a 74 at Mount Juliet last Saturday, he was despondent only to pep up again on Sunday with that immaculate closing 66.

Now it's time to go and defend the Claret Jug at Royal St George's, and Lowry heads to Kent feeling confident in his chances of becoming the first man since Pádraig Harrington in 2008 to retain The Open.

He might have just five victories on his CV, but they have all been monumental in their scope.

His 2009 Irish Open as an amateur remains one of the greatest performances ever seen on the European Tour and after backing it up with victory in the Portugal Masters in 2012, he won the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and set the tone for that magical 2019 with his first Rolex Series win in Abu Dhabi.

"Yeah, I think if I can get there, I can do it," he says of his hopes next week. "Yes, I've only won five times in my career, but they are all big. They have all been big events, and I've had a pretty solid career so far.

"Obviously, I'd like to have more, but if you swapped me two or three of the big events for smaller ones, I wouldn't take it.

"Look, I wouldn't say Dustin Johnson is on the plane on the way over quaking his boots about me, but if I find myself there on Sunday, he knows I have what it takes to win the tournament.

"Golf's, funny, like, like I'm not going to Royal St. George's thinking who is a threat, who is going to be favoured this week. You know, you just know that out of the Top-10 players in the world, probably five of them are going to show up and be in the Top-10 and have a chance to win the tournament. You just need to make sure you're one of the other five to give yourself the opportunity when it comes."

Lowry would rather forget his visit to Royal St George's for the 2006 Amateur Championship, where he shot an 81 on the Sandwich links and failed to qualify for the matchplay.

"I haven't got great memories there. I just remember it was very hard, and I'm sure it's going to be very hard next week," he says. "I am obviously a bit different of a player than it was in 2006. I am looking forward to getting there on Monday morning. I want to get out there and do my homework and then obviously enjoy the week as defending champion, but at the end of the day, I'm going out there to do a job and perform as best as I can, so that's the plan."

He might be a different player, but he's still the same Shane Lowry that arrived in a modest Mitsubishi Colt for the 2009 Irish Open though he now works hard on his fitness, mounting a "Peleton" bike in his Florida base —"Hate it. Oh, my God. It's horrible. Most horrible piece of equipment in the world" — and even doing "clear the head" sprints with trainer Robbie Cannon in the park near his Dublin home recently, not to mention his regular gym programme

Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates following his victory following the final round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 21, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/R&A/R&am… — Shane Lowry of Ireland celebrates following his victory following the final round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 21, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

" I don't know, I still take the bad days or the tough days hard," he admits. "I was disappointed after my third round at Mount Juliet. The good days, you know, I'm still just me. That was the one thing after The Open because if you'd have told me the week before Portrush you're going to win by six and all that and it was going to be great, I would have been like, will it change as a player or as a person, it probably will, a little, but I don't know-how.

"I don't think I've changed at all, really. I'm just me, and I've been me for my whole career, and that's all I need to keep being. Honestly, I get up every morning, and I put on my clothes and go out and play." As for next week, he's ready for action.

"It's going to be nerve-wracking, special, all of the above. It's something I've got to embrace, like the first tee at Portrush, which was one of the most intimidating places in the world. I'm not sure it'll be like that. It'll be different, but I'm ready for it. Look, I've been around. I've been on the Tour a long time. I think I'm ready for pretty much what anyone throws at me.

His closing 66 at Mount Juliet was just what the doctor ordered in terms of confidence heading into a Major.

"|f I'd shot 72 or 73 today, I might be going into this week feeling a bit different, going in to try and work on stuff that I don't need to work on," he reports. "My game was in great shape out there today. Short game, chip and putting, getting a feel for links turf...I can just focus on all those things."

With the Olympic Games and the FedEx Cup playoffs just around the corner, he's excited about what lies ahead.

"I feel every event I play now is huge," he says. "I'm looking forward to everything, next week, the Olympics, going back to America, the FedEx playoffs. Obviously, I've a job to do in the next few months, and that's to make sure I'm in Whistling Straits. That's my plan. I'm very confident and excited I can do it."

European vice-captain Graeme McDowell is confident Lowry will be on that plane to Whistling Straits as he closes in on the faltering Victor Perez, who holds down the last automatic place.

"I am finding that hard to envisage right now," McDowell says of a Ryder Cup team without Lowry. "He would have to go extremely quiet for a couple of months, and I don't see that happening. Obviously, I'd love to see him make it automatically, just to give Pádraig the flexibility with his three picks. But no, I think he is one of the 12 best players in Europe right now for sure.

Jon Rahm of Spain shakes hands with Shane Lowry of Ireland after winning their match during the second round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 25, 2021 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

"His relationship with Pádraig has nothing to do with it. He is one of the top 12 players in Europe. He's the Open champion right now until next week, and I think he is a fantastic match player. I'd love to see him there. He is obviously one of my very good friends, and I have massive respect for his game for many years now."

When it comes to what makes Lowry tick, McDowell sees him as a bright burner who might need a cooler head alongside him to shine brightly at Whistling Straits with McIlroy a possible partner.

"Padraig and I talked about it briefly the other night. There are players that bring energy, and there are players that need energy, and there are players that will get up if they are with a guy that is up and will stay level with a guy that's level.

"Shane is a pretty intense guy. He nearly doesn't need someone too fired up. I think Rory would be that kind of guy because Rory kind of plays to his level. If he plays with Poults, his eyes will be popping out of his head, like Poults, and if he's with a Tommy Fleetwood, he will be kind of cool and level.

"It's about chemistry and personalities, and you start realising who these guys are and how they tick, and sometimes they are not what you think they are."

With Lowry, there appears to be no mystery in that department. He produces precisely what it says on the tin - pure Shane Lowry.