Shane Lowry finds himself out of contention at the Irish Open despite being six-under par but despite the frustration, Lowry is upbeat about things overall.
Lowry shot a third round of 70 to back up his opening two days of 69 and 71 but with others – including Rory McIlroy – so far ahead, he now has no chance of winning.
Current leader Adrien Saddier is at 15-under par and for him to collapse and everyone else beneath him to do the same will be a miracle.
Nevertheless, with the Ryder Cup just weeks away, Lowry showed some good signs at least.
In fact, so much so that Lowry himself believes he’s actually playing some of the very best golf he’s ever played.
Shane Lowry says why he’s playing so well ahead of the Ryder Cup
With the Ryder Cup just around the corner now, we’re at a point in time where players can only really hone their games rather than go through big changes.
For Team Europe and Luke Donald, Shane Lowry playing well is massive.
His personality, experience and above all else, quality, mean he is one of Europe’s best all round players.
And luckily for Donald and the team, Lowry himself believes he’s playing some of the very best golf of his career.
“I played really, really nice, hit the ball tee to green really good, way better than yesterday. Then I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole on the greens. It was disappointing, frustrating,” Lowry admitted.
“But a lot of positives. I think there’s a really low score in me tomorrow. I’m out of the tournament, so it’s disappointing, like I’m too far back, too many people ahead of me. I was hoping to maybe shoot 4- or 5-under today. I only gave myself a little sniff. It’s tricky in the wind, but I played nice. I hit the ball really well.”
| Player | Away Ryder Cups | Overall Record | Points won |
| Justin Rose | 3 (2008, 2012, 2016) | 8-6-0 | 8 |
| Rory McIlroy | 3 (2012, 2016, 2021) | 7-7-0 | 7 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | 2 (2016, 2021) | 0-5-0 | 0 |
| Jon Rahm | 1 (2021) | 3-1-1 | 3.5 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 1 (2021) | 1-2-1 | 1.5 |
| Shane Lowry | 1 (2021) | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 1 (2021) | 0-1-2 | 1 |
| Viktor Hovland | 1 (2021) | 0-3-2 | 1 |
| Robert MacIntyre | 0 | – | – |
| Sepp Straka | 0 | – | – |
| Ludvig Aberg | 0 | – | – |
| Rasmus Højgaard | Rookie | – | – |
Delving in further into just what those positives are, Lowry then discussed where his game is and admitted he’s right up there now in terms of form.
“I felt like my iron play was poor yesterday, so it was really nice to hit some really nice iron shots today. My putting was poor today, so maybe it will get better tomorrow. We’ll see. It is what it is now. I’m just hoping I can go out and shoot a low one tomorrow.
“It’s funny out there because like it’s hard to get the ball really close. Then from 20 feet it’s hard to hole putts because it’s hard to be aggressive. Yeah, I felt like I was hitting like really good shots to 15, 20 feet a lot. Then you kind of get frustrated because you’re not holing any, but it is hard to hole them.
“Yeah, it was just one of those days where nothing really went for me on the greens, but there’s loads of positives. Like I feel like that’s some of the best golf I’ve played all year out there today. It’s a nice time of year to be starting to do it.”
- READ MORE: American golf fans concerned about Xander Schauffele after his latest decision before the Ryder Cup
Shane Lowry’s Ryder Cup record
Shane Lowry has only played in two Ryder Cups in his career so far but he has already shown he can take down some big names.
Lowry has the scalps of Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa to his name while he’s also hung tough with the likes of Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth.
Overall, Lowry’s overall record is pretty average, with two wins, three defeats and a half making up his Ryder Cup record.
However, it’s beyond the golf where Europe needs Lowry more than ever. In a way, he can be like Ian Poulter was for the Europeans. And for Luke Donald, that will do just nicely.
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