PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2021

Shane Lowry

The Ocean Course at Kiawah

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Shane Lowry, who posted a 1-under par-71 today. He's even par for the championship.

Just seeing you under par there in the red, that's remarkable, under trying conditions. It seemed like you played equally well on both sides. Talk about how you made your way around today.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I mean, I'm really, really happy it's over. Long day, man. Quick turnaround last night didn't really help. I was goosed out there today, honestly. Like finished just about 8:00 last night and you're on the tee at 8:45 this morning. You're up at 4:00 in the morning. It's a quick turnaround. I played great yesterday and didn't hole anything. Felt like I should have shot a couple under yesterday.

Today didn't play as good but didn't really -- apart from a little trip to the beach, I didn't really hit many bad shots. You kind of put it in good position, hit it in the right places and manage to have a few nice up-and-downs. It's just so hard out there. Oh, my God, like it's -- especially when you tee off on 10 and you stand on the 14th tee, there's no let-up for ten holes, nine or ten holes. It's difficult.

Yeah, I'm happy to finish. I'm happy to be on level par. I'm five or six behind. I feel like I'm in a good place going into the weekend.

Q. Can you talk us through your little beach trip there?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's funny, I seen a picture of Rory out there in the practice rounds, and I was trying to figure out where it was. Then I obviously found out where it was because I didn't know -- I obviously knew the sea was out there that side, but I didn't know what was out there. Look, I got very lucky there because where I hit my provisional wasn't very good, either. It could have been anything. I got lucky and managed to make an unbelievable par.

It was one of those where when I found my ball and was able to get relief and got it back in play, it was like make a 6. A 6 doesn't kill you. On this course if your mistakes are bogeys, you'll do okay, because you will give yourself a few chances. But I just wanted to try and make bogey or par and move on to the next, and I managed -- I did.

Q. Relief, was it that erosion --

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, there was a little fence, and it's a movable obstruction, so for your relief, yeah, it was standard enough.

Q. I know you had a couple three-putts on very long putts. Was that partly the wind?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I had only one because one of them I actually had to chip off the green. I hit a bad wedge shot on No. 6. You know, it was one of those, it was so far downwind and you don't quite get it to the apex of the flight you want to get and it knocks it down and it came up 50 feet short and there was a knuckle in my way so I had to chip it over that.

You're probably going to three-putt out there. It's so hard in the wind. It's very, very difficult.

Yeah, look, the thing is I enjoy golf like this -- a couple of weeks a year. I'm trying to make the most of it this week. I feel like my game is in a good place. I feel like I played great yesterday. I feel like I scored great today. So kind of if I can put those two together over the weekend, who knows what could happen.

Q. I know it's so hard to compare, but the 71 you shot today on a normal PGA TOUR layout, calm day, what is that score roughly equivalent to?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's hard to -- 5- or 6-under, I suppose, 66, 67, depending on what tournament course you're talking about. They vary, but it's a very good score. 1-under is very good out there. You'd take it any day. I think anything under par is very, very good. There's just no letup.

There's some holes you're standing there, like I'm standing on the 8th and I'm not sure I can really hit the 8th green. I'm standing on 14, and it's the same thing. I'm standing there, 14, into the wind, the crosswind in there to the left, and you literally have to hit the perfect shot to hit the green. So that's how difficult it is.

Q. It seems like it kind of starts on the driving range, right into the breeze. What are the difficulties of that warmup?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it starts on the driving range. You're standing there, and you're hitting your driver, and your numbers are on the screen and the driver has gone 240, you're like, it's going to be a long day today.

But yeah, look, it's just hard. But we knew that. You play a practice round here, you know what you're getting. You're not going to complain about it because that's what it is. I think it's a great golf course. The wind is getting up today, which makes it very, very difficult. But that's just the way it is, seaside golf.

Q. There's several courses that kind of lay claim to the toughest major championship venue, Oakmont, Winged Foot. Where does this one rank in your mind?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's probably up there, but if you give it to us with no wind, I think we'd shoot some good scores around here. It's kind of hard to tell. It's more the conditions kind of rescues it a little -- makes it harder. I think it's a great golf course, but I do think with how windy it is, and it's a constant wind, and then it's a narrow strip of land. We have a few courses in Ireland like this, as well, where you play them either straight into the wind or straight downwind and that's the way it is.

But yeah, it's up there. I wouldn't say it's more difficult than Oakmont, but it's not far off.

Q. The par save on 16 was huge. 17, 18, though, were big as well, and even the bogey save on 1. Can you talk about those, and can you talk about your attitude, what you think is the importance of that over these first two days and looking ahead?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, like obviously the par save on 16 was huge. Then you have 17 and 18, they play like I hit -- you're hitting 4-iron into 17. It's one of the most difficult holes you play. I just missed it left, which is kind of where you're missing it. The funny thing is it's a straightforward enough bunker shot. I hit a nice bunker shot and holed a nice putt there.

And then 18, hit a really good drive on 18 and I was hitting 3-iron in. Missed it kind of just right in a decent spot and managed to up-and-down it.

But the 1st, as well, hit a really bad drive off the 1st, chipped out, took my medicine, hit it on to the green and then hit an awful first putt, left it 10 feet short, and then managed to hole that. So that kind of kept the momentum going. But that's what you have to do out here in these conditions. You have to hole those par saves, those bogey saves when you get under the gun. I managed to do that today, so yeah, I was happy enough.

Q. The attitude?

SHANE LOWRY: My attitude, yeah, it was pretty good. Yeah, it needs to be good out there.

I think when I get to major championship golf courses like this, I know it's going to be difficult, so I kind of put myself in a frame of mind maybe different to other weeks where I accept that I'm going to make bogeys and I accept that I'm going to hit bad shots.

Yeah, my attitude has been pretty good. It's going to need to be very good over the weekend because it's going to be -- it's probably going to get more and more difficult as the week goes on, and yeah, hopefully I can pull it all together this weekend and give it a bit of a run.

Q. You've been asked about the great par save on 16, but have you played a shot off the beach, some of those Irish gems in your career?

SHANE LOWRY: No, I don't think so. I can't remember, no.

Q. In terms of now after two rounds, you and Bo gelled so well at Portrush for four rounds in July of 2019. How much are you relying on him these two days, given the toughness of the conditions?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, you have to lean on him quite a bit because it's so hard and you need someone out there to tell you -- maybe if you get down after making a couple of bogeys or hitting a couple of bad shots, you need someone out there to tell you that everyone is doing it and just to keep going, keep your head open, keep plowing on. That's what he's been doing.

He's been doing a good job this week so far, so we'll see how it goes the weekend. But yeah, you do need -- look, we all have our own relationships with our caddies. I've got a very good one with Bo. You need someone to lean on out there, especially in big weeks.

Look, if I make a run at it this weekend, that's when you're going to need him most, so we'll see how it goes.

Q. You make it sound like a hard day like this is enjoyable in a sick kind of a way. When is a hard day not enjoyable? Not related to score, but is there a difference in the test when it's tough but it's kind of fair, and a day where it's tough and it's just stupid?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, yeah, I get what you're saying. Like they've kept the greens nice and soft here this week, which I think has helped us an awful lot. If the greens firmed up at all, this place would be literally impossible to play golf on in this wind.

I think it's hard to get that happy medium, really tough but really fair, because you're always kind of on the edge. But I think the PGA have done a great job this week so far in doing that.

Look, it's easy for me to stand there and say I enjoyed how tough it was today because I shot 1-under, but if you asked Dustin and Sergio the same question, they probably won't give the same answer.

You know, it's a long day out there. It's tough. It's not very enjoyable when you're doing it, but the satisfaction of holing those par putts, finishing on a good score is the buzz I get out of it. Sitting here maybe -- I'll probably be in the top 20 going into the weekend here at a major championship with a good chance to do well, so that's kind of what I play for, and that's what I'm out there grinding my ass off out there on days like today, and that's the kind of buzz I get from it.

It's not very enjoyable out there because it's so hard, and like every hole is a disaster waiting to happen. So it's kind of very stressful and there's a lot of anxiety and a lot of nerves and a lot of tension out there, but you just have to get on with it and try and hit the best shots you can, and that's all I've been doing.

Q. At some point out there did you see Phil's name on top of the board?

SHANE LOWRY: I did, yeah.

Q. When you see it --

SHANE LOWRY: See those boys on the Senior Tour are happy enough because he's wanting to stay out here a bit longer.

Look, Phil is obviously Phil. He's one of the best players of all time. He's at the top of the leaderboard now. I hope he's not there come Sunday. I hope it's me. Yeah, look, it's great to see him.

It's great to see Padraig Harrington doing well. Padraig is 50 in August. Could be paired with him tomorrow, which that could be good craic. But yeah, it's great to see those boys playing well and out here competing. It just shows you that age is only a number.

You look at amazing story last week, and I couldn't actually get away from the TV watching Richard Bland win in Europe, stuff like that. I actually listened to his interview, and watching him and Tim Barter, I nearly had tears in my eyes watching. It was amazing. So stuff like that is what's great about the game of golf, and to have those boys atop the leaderboard is pretty cool.