'Golf is just not agreeing with me at the moment; I'm not enjoying it' — Lowry at low ebb

Shane Lowry plays his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. on Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Logan Whitton/USGA)

Stock market investors know that past performance is no guarantee of future results but Shane Lowry admits he's utterly frustrated to get zero return for all his hard work this year.

The Offaly man has suffered three huge Sunday disappointments already this season, and after carding a second successive three-over 73 to miss the cut in the 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills, he's at his wits' end.

"I'd love to know what's going on, and I'm beating my head against a brick wall," he said after a round where a double-bogey at the short 11th undid all the hard work he'd done to move inside the cut line. 

"I felt like I rolled the ball pretty well. I felt like I did a lot of things well, and I'm going home Friday evening. It's pretty sh**t, to be honest."

Wyndham Clark parred the last two holes of his weather-delayed first round early in the morning and signed for six-under 64 before adding a 69 in round two to lead by three strokes on seven-under par from Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele.

The American could do no wrong, but it appears that Lowry can do little right these days.

The Offaly man was playing just behind Clark, but while he completed the four remaining holes of his delayed first round in one-under to open with a 73, the golfing gods continued to frown on him in round two, just when it appeared he was moving in the right direction.

He needed a solid second round to make the weekend and looked on his way when he followed a three-putt bogey at the first with birdies at the eighth and 10th to get back to two-over for the Championship.

He was looking to move into contention with a solid finish, but instead, he double bogeyed the treacherous par-three 11th, three putting after chipping four feet above the hole at the toughest hole on the course in round two.

"Eleven was a kick in the balls," Lowry admitted. "I had it going, didn't I? I knew the very minute I hit that chip, I said to Darren [Reynolds, my caddie], I just have to try and two-putt this.  

"Like, honestly, I just touched it, and it went seven feet past, and then I missed the next one. 

"From there, I feel like anytime I need a good nine holes, I'm not doing it, and it's tough, but what can you do?"

Needing to play the last seven holes in level par, he bogeyed the 15th after a poor drive, then failed to birdie at the par-five 16th and dropped a shot by bunkering his tee shot at the short 17th.

Having spurned chances to win the Dubai Invitational and the Cognizant Classic and shot a final round 80 when contending for the Masters, Lowry began the week with some trepidation.

He described the thought of talking on Shinnecock Hills as exposing yourself to being made to look silly, as evidenced by Jon Rahm following a bogey-free 68 with a 78 to miss the cut.

Asked what he felt after chipping above the hole at the 11th, Lowry said: "You just know if you miss the putt, you're going to look like a f**king eejit. "Unfortunately, that's what golf courses and tests like this do. It's gettable out there. But if you get the wrong side of the hole…

"I hit a couple of bad shots, and you get penalised very quickly. So it's tough, but golf is just not agreeing with me at the moment. I'm not enjoying it. I didn't have any fun this week. 

"It's not like I'm shooting 85. Two 73s is not great, but it's here and there, a couple of shots, a little bit sloppy on the par fives, and all of a sudden I'm not shooting good scores.  It's not far away, but it's hard to tell yourself that at times."

"I'd love to know what's going on, and I'm beating my head against a brick wall."

He added: "I find the course very hard, to be honest. Like, it is as easy as we could have played for the last two days. 

"It's a very stressful golf course and a hard course to come play and put yourself out there on a pedestal in front of the world. 

"You're there for the taking when you're out there, so I find it pretty hard."

Lowry's playing partner, Chile's Joaquin Niemann, began his day by taking nine at the sixth, having pumped two balls out of bounds the previous evening and hit his third into the fescue.

But even after being assessed a two-stroke penalty by the committee for "throwing a club" at that hole, turning the nine into an 11 for an act the USGA "determined to be serious misconduct under Rule 1.2b," he followed a 78 with a 65 to make the weekend on three-under.

"I felt like a little bit extra penalised with a two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is," said Niemann, who threw a sand wedge after hitting his sixth shot just before the horn blew on Thursday night. 

"I think I'm going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today."