Lowry ready to "flip" his form at Augusta despite potential LIV distraction
Shane Lowry knows he can turn form around in time for Masters.
SHANE LOWRY believes he can put up with the potential distraction of being drawn with one of 18 LIV Golf rebels and “flip” his recent erratic form to produce another big week at the Masters.
Third behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy last year, Lowry arrived at Augusta National on the back of yet another group stage elimination at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play, even if he did beat Jordan Spieth in his final group match.
The Offaly man led into the final round in Abu Dhabi before blowing up coming down the stretch, then fired his caddie after a disappointing week at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Since then, he’s endured some rollercoaster form in the US, but as a Major winner and Augusta National contender last year, he’s convinced he can turn this around.
“I’m here, I’m happy, I feel like my game is alright,” Lowry said under the big oak tree in front of the Augusta National clubhouse.
“I’ve been here a lot. Rory texted me early last week, and he was coming down on Thursday, so I thought, why not.”
He got a feel for the course on Monday, and he’s keeping his fingers crossed he will be sharp and ready to go when the gun goes on Thursday.
“Last year was nice, but you don’t have a God-given right to come here and play well,” he said. “You still have to do everything right and get a bit of luck along the way.
“I step on tee boxes now and I see my shots, and I see my shots on the greens. I have even got a new caddie here this year and we were talking a lot about it today. I see my way around this golf course pretty well. It is about being aggressive to your spots and pulling it off.
“My results have not been great, but when I sit down and think about it, I am not far away, three out of four good rounds in weeks, stuff like that.
“I have not done certain things well that I would have liked, but I feel okay. Would I say I feel as confident as I did this time last year? Probably not, but do I feel like I can go out and do well this week? Yes, I do.
“Last year, I came off the back of a second place and a top 10 in the Players and I was playing good golf. I was confident. Am I as confident this year? No, but I do feel like my game is in a decent place, and I am just trying to be as patient as I can. Hopefully, it all comes together this week.”
Lowry can switch on his game like a light and his hopeful he can find it this week.
“It can flip in one do, it really can,” he said. “The feeling, whether it be on the greens or with your driving or iron play, it is a funny old game. It is a game that some days you feel like you are never going to hit a bad shot again and some days you feel like you are never going to hit a good shot again.
“There are certain times I go out and I feel great. Like the Players was a perfect example this year. I felt unbelievable in practice, rolled the ball unbelievable on the greens.
“The first tournament of the year I was really excited for and I went out and shot 77. I was like, this f***ing game. Then I went out and I had a pretty solid week after that, I came back and just made the cut and had a nice weekend
“That was nice to do that, I went to the matchplay then and I just don’t like that course. It is a strange format and I struggled around there over the years and I do feel like my game is in a decent spot. It can click at any stage.
“The important thing is not to try and make it click. If you try too hard to make it click then that’s when you put too much pressure on yourself. It is all about waiting for it to happen for me. I feel like I am doing the right things. I feel like I have worked very hard each year trying to get things right and just trying to be patient now.”
He likes the addition of 35 yards to the par-five 13th, even if it means he may well have to lay up most days,
“Thirteen for me is probably going to be a three-shotter,” he said. “A good drive any time I have played here over the last few weeks, a good drive leaves 220-230 front, so it is very risky going for that. It is very much risk-reward.
“If you are standing there Sunday with 220 front and you have to go for it, that will be interesting. But for me, I see myself probably laying up and leave myself a good number.
“I’m not disappointed at all with the change. It is probably going to make the hole play a little bit harder. I don’t think it makes it play worse.”
The 2019 Open champion has been a vociferous opponent of LIV Golf, but even with 18 “rebels” in the field, he’s not fazed by the possibility of being distracted by being drawn with one of them when the tee times are released on Tuesday.
“Look, there’s obviously going to be some pairings that are interesting this week. I have played in Europe over the last year, so I have played the same tournaments as them all (LIV players) a lot, so it doesn’t make any difference to me. At the end of the day, we are all out there trying to win this tournament. I will have a look, obviously.
“It is one of those where listen, I always say this about professional golfers. We all work in the same office. If you work in the same office building as 90 people, you not going to like everybody in there, so that is the way it is.
“You walk down the range, and you have your friends and those hopefully you get on well with, and I think that’s the same with the LIV guys.
“I met Dustin on the green this morning. I have always got on well with Dustin. It was nice to see him. I am not saying the media have hyped it up, there is a lot to hype up, but it is what it is. If you are paired with whoever this week, you don’t really care what they are doing, you are focused on yourself. You are just trying to win this tournament.”
With the possibility of some frosty pairings for a player who said his BMW PGA victory was a win for “the good guys”, he says the temperature in the group will depend on personalities.
“It depends on who you have,” he said. “If you are playing with a guy you get on well with and is really talkative, you will talk and if you’re not you just keep yourself to yourself.
“The thing with weeks like this is you want to make them as close to normal weeks as you can. Obviously, they are not, and if it comes to the business end of things on Sunday, I can’t imagine you are going to be talking to the guy you’re playing with going down 15.
“It is not another week because it is the Masters and there is a lot at stake at the end of it, but it is another week at the end of the day that you’re just trying to play golf.”
As for the course and the mixed weather forecast, he’s loathed to make any bold predictions.
“It is quite firm today, actually,” he said. “I think they are probably going to let it firm up as much as they can over the few days because of what is forecast this weekend. I would expect it to play firm the next few days, but then when it gets to the weekend, who knows what it will bring?
“Hopefully, it breaks up, but it will probably play firm on Thursday. That could be the most difficult scoring day, so it will be interesting. We just have to see. It plays longer and a little bit easier when it is soft.”
For now, he’s just enjoying the Masters experience and plans to play nine holes on Tuesday and Wednesday, almost certainly with an all-Irish fourball on one of the days before playing the Par 3 Contest with Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and their children.
