‘He’s the best version of Shane I’ve seen’ - Harrington urges Lowry to remain patient in quest for winning reward

Shane Lowry

Few people know Shane Lowry as well as Padraig Harrington and the Dubliner has no doubt that despite letting big chances slip through his fingers this year, the Offaly man just has to remain patient and wait for his moment to come.

The two Major champions are worlds apart in many ways — Harrington playing a record 31st consecutive national open at Doonbeg this week at the age of 55 and Lowry, now 39, seeking a win that would turn what’s been a nearly season into a memorable one.

"Shane has been playing great and not getting the results,” Harrington said of his compatriot, who chances to win in Dubai and Palm Beach Gardens slip through his fingers this season and slipped, momentarily at least, out of the world’s top 50 for the first time in two and a half years.

“He's been taking the money off me every day this year. It is tough for Shane because you never want to be playing well and not getting results.

"In my own experience, I think I've just about passed wins to second place in my career — 44 wins and about 41 to 42 second places.

“Some of those second places I messed up. Some I played well and finished second. Sometimes somebody else played well and beat me fair and square.”

The older man has seen just about everything this game can throw at you and while his advice might sound trite, he believes it fully.

"You just got to stick at it,” he said. “It's very easy to say it. It's hard to do it. Hard to stay patient.”

Lowry cut a relaxed figure in his appearance in the press room, well-recovered from the early season disappointments in the Dubai Invitational, the Cognizant Classic and even the Masters.

There was an optimism in his voice and with the Irish Open this week, the BMW PGA next week and events like the Spanish Open on his radar, he knows there’s still time too hoist some silverware before it’s time to tuck into the turkey and ham.

"I really don't feel like I'm playing bad golf. I really feel like I'm playing decent golf this year," Lowry insisted. "I'm hitting the ball good. My iron play is probably not as sharp as it was in the last two years, but it's not far away.”

He knows that in golf, you lose more than you win, and he’s not getting down on himself, though he admits there have been some tough Sundays.

"There's been a lot of nearly golf," he said. "But I think I'm mature enough to know that three or four months of average results isn't going to make or break your whole career."

Nobody knows this better than Harrington, who reckons Lowry 2026 is superior to any other vintage.

“From the outside, he's a much better golfer,” Harrington said. “He's the best golfer I've seen. The version of him I've seen this year, all the way through his game.”

With almost 442 professional appearances under is belt, he knows there are ebbs and flows in professional golf. There’s no panic.

“I'm not too disheartened by the whole thing,” he said. “I feel like there's still time to rescue a decent year.  I left Memphis a few weeks ago, and I wasn't in the BMW, and everyone who wasn’t in the BMW was going home, kind of sulking.

“I actually went home and I wasn't too discouraged from the whole thing. I felt like I was getting three weeks off. I was going to get a chance to refresh myself, and I was going to get a chance to come to the Irish Open and Wentworth, kind of refreshed and re-energised, and hopefully to give them a good go.

“I feel like over the last few years, I've come into this part of the season or the latter part of the season going through the motions because I feel like I'm over-golfed, whereas I don't feel like that this year. So who knows?

“There will be times when I'll feel under pressure. There will be times I give myself chances to win tournaments again. It's up to me to get through that and get over the line.”

Nobody is more positive than Harrington but Lowry tries his best to follow the maestro’s example.

“I try and live my golfing life like the glass has to be half full,” he revealed. “You have to look at the positives and be as positive as you can."

To that end, he sees this week as the start of a year-long quest to make sure he’s in Adare for the Ryder Cup next year.

“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a lot of my goals over the next 12 months are going to be revolving around one thing, and that's going to be part of a winning Ryder Cup team in Adare.

“I was at the one in The K Club on Friday, and it gives me goosebumps even just thinking about it. A lot of the reason why I get out of bed over the next couple of months will be working towards that.”

As for this week, and the prospect of Wentworth next week, Lowry is upbeat.

“I'm looking forward to this week and next week too,” he said. “Two huge weeks on the calendar. If you can't really get excited or up for those, it's time to start looking in the mirror.”