PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 6, 2020

Shane Lowry

Harding Park Golf Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome to the 2020 PGA Championship. Pleased to be joined by Shane Lowry.

Shane, looks like you opened with a 68 today. Perhaps tell us about what you felt out there, how much different it was than your practice rounds.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I sort of was -- I was going out there expecting it to be quite difficult. I was probably a bit negative for the first few holes, but it was quite easy out there this morning. There was not much wind, a little bit warmer. So the ball was going a little bit further, so you had a little bit shorter clubs.

But yeah, so that's why the scoring is quite good, because it's just warmer than it was in practice. In practice it was like anything under par would have been a great score, but today it was quite gettable this morning, and you can see, that from the leaderboard.

Q. Shane, just wondering how you felt on the greens today. You said that was going to be key for you this week to putt quite well. Looked like it went okay.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I missed quite a few chances middle of the round, but I thought I was hitting good putts, burning the edge a little bit. It was getting frustrating, but it was nice to birdie the seventh, my 16th and get it in in 2-under.

8 and 9 are two very difficult holes, so it was nice to play the last three holes in 1-under and shoot 68. I'm pretty happy. I don't feel like I drove the ball well at all.

I'm going to go to the range and hit a few now, but other than that I feel like my game was good today and I'm pretty happy with my score.

Q. Is there anything you'd like to do a little bit better tomorrow?

SHANE LOWRY: If I could do everything better tomorrow, it would be great. But yeah, look, I think if I hit more fairways tomorrow because it's quite gettable from the fairways. The greens were receptive. I'm not sure what it's going to be like tomorrow afternoon. We could come out here and it could be cold and windy and very difficult. So we just have to wait and see what it's going to be like and take what we're given and try and make the best of it. But yeah, I definitely need to drive the ball better over the next few days.

Q. There were no concerns that you had that this would feel like a major this week, but when you look at the leaderboard and the names on it and the scores that are being shot today, did it get your attention?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, on the way over here in the car this morning, I was feeling it. I was feeling like I was driving to a big event. I was driving in the gate -- and on the first tee I was feeling it a little bit. I was kind of anxious to get going, like I would be at any major.

Yeah, it was nice to have. You know, I didn't have that feeling on the first tee in Memphis last week, so it was nice to have that feeling this week.

This is a huge event. It doesn't matter whether it's 50,000 people here or no one. It's kind of -- it would be nicer if there was 50,000 people here, but we all know how big this event is and how much it would mean to the winner at the end of the week. You're out there trying your hardest and doing your best.

Q. I understand you spent some time this spring with Brooks, and I wonder if you could help explain his personality a little bit, what he's like and what it's like to play with him these first couple days.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, myself and Brooks have a mutual friend down in Palm Beach, an Irish guy, and we played a bit of golf together. He played lovely today. He's got a different driver in the bag this week, and you'd know that. He drove it long and straight, and he has that little fade back. He'll be hard to beat this week, I'd say.

Q. I noticed hand sanitizers on every tee. Have you seen anyone use one yet?

SHANE LOWRY: I personally wouldn't feel that comfortable sanitizing my hand before I put my hands on my grip, so no, I certainly didn't use it.

I'm sure maybe -- I think it's for probably the boxes, the cooler boxes, the caddies getting some water out of the coolers. Maybe some of the caddies are using it but no, I didn't notice anyone.

Q. Not even after a bogey?

SHANE LOWRY: Not after a bogey, wash the bogey away, but no.

Q. You talked about this still being a big event, but could you describe the difference in atmosphere from the last time you played in a major? You had the country rooting for you and the silence out here.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, I said to the lads walking down the first, we wouldn't have had the ideal group or the ideal tee time, two groups ahead of Tiger around here would have been a bit different. The crowds would have been huge and they would have been moving an awful lot and it would have been tricky.

It is different, but we're strange times in our lives, and I'd much prefer to be here under normal circumstances with big crowds. But yeah, the atmosphere is different, but it's still -- it still gets my attention. I don't know about the other guys. I can only speak for myself going out there, but like I said, driving to the course this morning, this week gets my attention.