DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN

July 2, 2021

Shane Lowry

Mount Juliet Estate

Quick Quotes

Q. 2-under par with six to play, at that stage missing the cut, how chuffed are you to finish like that?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, pretty happy. It's no fun at all playing golf on the cut mark, especially in your home tournament where you're trying so desperately hard to do well and obviously a lot of people supporting me and familiar faces in the crowd, so trying to good golf for them as well as myself.

Bit of a struggle today. I got off to a great start and let it slip in the middle of the round. 2-under through four out here, you're really off and running because you've got three par 5s in the next six holes. Then I played those next six holes in 2-over. It was tough but I battled well and showed some resilience and some good, hard, grinding out there. So I'm pretty proud of myself the way I played. To finish like that was pretty good.

Q. You mentioned the crowd. What's it like to have them willing every shot into the hole?

SHANE LOWRY: It's amazing. Like obviously since winning in Portrush, I haven't got to play in front of an Irish crowd, and obviously there's not as many here as we would have liked but walking down 18 and walking off the green, I had some goosebumps and it's pretty cool.

It's nice, and a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, and just to be here playing golf with watching, this is probably one of the biggest sporting events since COVID started in Ireland, so it's nice that it's golf.

Hopefully I can go out tomorrow -- I think there's a bad weather forecast, give it a bit of a charge and give myself a chance on Sunday.

Q. Strong finish today when you needed it.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I did. Wasn't going my way out there at all today. Got off to a great start and I had a great chance on 9. Hit a great putt. Don't know how I missed and all of a sudden I bogey 10 from nowhere really and it was a bit silly.

When you're outside the cut mark and it's no fun at all playing golf on the cut mark, especially here, my want, my willingness to kind of do as well as I can and to have my name atop the leaderboard for myself and my friends are out there, and got the Irish people, I suppose. Didn't go my way for a lot of the day but I grinded hard and got rewarded at the end, so that was nice.

Q. No great secret but official confirmation of your place on the Irish Olympic Team in Tokyo.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's going to be amazing. I've got my brother caddying for me. So it will be just an amazing experience for the two of us to go over to Japan on the Irish Olympic Team -- look, I never thought I would be saying that. It's funny, it's weird even saying it and the closer it gets, the more exciting it is. We're all geared up and ready to go.

Obviously I have a big week here and a big event in a couple of week, but you know, after that, it will be all eyes on Tokyo and trying to bring the medal home to Ireland I suppose.

Q. That drive on 13 was going into the right-hand rough and you were really outside the cut mark. How were you feeling at that point? Clearly the fight back was impressive.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, to be honest, at that point I was just -- I knew the cut was going to be 3-under. I was just saying to myself, well, if I can give myself a couple of chances and birdie 17, I made the cut, try to get one more, sort of thinking if I can get to 4 it would be a nice finish. It wasn't easy out there. It got cold and the wind got up and it was tricky this afternoon.

I'm proud of myself how I battled. I hate playing golf on the cut mark. It's just not nice. I would have been devastated driving in the car back to Dublin if I had missed. It's nice to be here on the weekend. And it's nice to get to a decent number.

Obviously if I would have made it on 3-under, but it was nice to get to 5 and that kind of gives me a glimmer of hope where I can shoot 5- or 6-under, bit of bad weather, you never know what can happen, and put myself in the running on Sunday.

Q. Do you almost want to make the cut too much because people willing you, cheering every shot?

SHANE LOWRY: I wouldn't say willing me to make the cut too much. Almost wanting too hard to do well. I'd give nothing to be up there on Sunday afternoon, home crowd cheering me on. I've had that a couple times over my career, so I'm very lucky that's happened. I just want to experience it again.

You know, every week I come to play tournaments, I do my best and this week is no different. I wouldn't say I'm out there trying too hard. I felt like the round got away from me a little bit today. I felt like I got off to a great start. You couldn't get off to a better start. 2-under after four is not as good as you can do but it's a really nice start because you have three par 5s in the next six holes.

And I played the next six holes at 2-over, just a couple mistakes, hitting 190 yards to the flag on the fifth home. If I birdie that hole, the momentum is with me and I can kick on and shot a really low score, and all of a sudden par there and bogey the next and I'm grinding for the rest of the day. It was a grind out there but I'm very happy I hit some great shots on the way in.

Hit a great shot into 16 and made that putt and nuked a drive up 17 as good a drive as I hit all week and same down 18. I think my drive down 18 was 350. Nice to have a good feeling going into tomorrow.

Q. The whole point is without the cut line there, does it free you up that you can go for it now?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I just go out and play my game. Not try to hard. Scoring is obviously very good, and depending on weather conditions, probably will be quite good tomorrow, as well. So just go out and play my own game. I think you see the scoring quite good, and it can make you think that you need to shoot 20-under.

But I still think if you can get to kind of mid-teens this weekend, you'll have some sort of a chance. So 10-under on the weekend is there and hopefully I can go out and get it.

Q. You've been announced today as an Olympian for sure and you're going to make the team, and it's one of those things, boxers, athletes, swimmers, Olympics are a lifelong dream. Shane Lowry, Olympian, what does it mean to you?

SHANE LOWRY: It's weird when you say it. Obviously growing up, didn't dream of an Olympian or going to the Olympics and bringing home a medal. Now that I'm going to do it, first and foremost is go and win a medal and bring it home to Ireland.

It's going to be amazing, my brother caddying for me. The two of us going over there, it's going to be a very proud moment for our parents and all of our family. Like I keep saying and harping on about, it I'd give nothing to bring a medal home to Ireland.

Q. And possibly as strong a chance as we have for a medal.

SHANE LOWRY: Rory is probably going to be one of the favourites, obviously the Americans are going to be quite strong but Rory is going to be one of the favourites, so hopefully I'll swoop in under the radar and pick one up. It's going to be an amazing experience and one that I'm looking forward to.