THE 150TH OPEN

July 15, 2022

Shane Lowry

Mixed Zone

Q. That was a great finish.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it was.

Q. You turned it around. (Indiscernible) after the 16th.

SHANE LOWRY: Overall I'm pretty happy obviously, but I probably could have shot something in the mid-60s today. I holed two nice putts at the end, which is promising. But other than that, I felt like I hit some good putts and didn't hole much and put myself in position a lot of times. 16 was a real kick -- that one was --

Q. It was a tough lie in the back of the --

SHANE LOWRY: It was a tough lie. It was a bad shot and a bad second shot. To be honest, I played the hole poorly. I probably should have laid backwards (indiscernible).

From playing in the Dunhill here so much, it actually bit me there a little bit because you just kind of -- it's easy in the Dunhill. It's soft. It's slow. You don't find yourself in those positions. I should have laid back.

One of my strengths is my mid-iron play and just play to your strengths and lay back there and hit a 6-iron into 20 feet. But it's shoulda, woulda, coulda. I finished nicely, which was great. I'm very happy that I did that. I'll be able to watch the match in the morning.

Q. That birdie on 17 was only (indiscernible)?

SHANE LOWRY: I figured it out somewhat, I think, touch wood. That second shot, I just tried to put it up top and it came out perfect. Got a nice bounce and bounced up lovely. If there's a hole to hole a nice putt, it was that. It was nice to hole that putt on the last as well.

4-under, look, I'm obviously a long way behind, but if I can go out and shoot with a score tomorrow, you never know come Sunday. I think between now and sort of 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, the course is going to firm up a little bit again. The pins, to keep finding these outrageous spots on the greens that they put them in.

Q. You were saying you've never seen these before.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah. It will be for a good weekend hopefully.

Q. The wind obviously switched. The course is going completely different.

SHANE LOWRY: There wasn't much wind. You actually prefer to have that. You prefer to play in a little puff of wind like that when the course is so firm because you can have control of your ball.

Going downwind on the front nine, it was hard to get it close. I felt like coming in down the fairway, you had control of your ball. I felt like you could do what you want to, put a little spin on it, and stop it on the green.

Not that it made it easier. I felt, once you hit a good tee shot, it definitely made the second shots easier.

Q. Obviously nine shots back. What do you need to happen?

SHANE LOWRY: I just need to shoot something kinds of -- I probably need to shoot something in the mid-60s tomorrow.

Q. It's maybe just the putting?

SHANE LOWRY: I need to hole a few putts. At times I felt like I'm trying, I'm doing the same thing. I feel like I'm hitting good putts at time, but it's hard to kind of stay positive out there. It's hard to kind of keep going.

Hit two great shots into 15. Not birdieing 14 -- birdie 14, you get to 5-under, you feel you can get to 6 or 7. I don't birdie 14, then I miss that chance on 15, and I go down to 16, and all of a sudden I'm like, geez, I'm one bad swing away from missing the cut here.

This is just golf, you know what I mean? I feel like -- I do feel like I'm in control of my game, but I would love to hole a few more putts. That's always the way -- I don't feel like I'm doing anything different. I feel like I'm committing as best I can. What more can I do?

Q. There's plenty of opportunities out there, Shane. This course also has the ability to jump up and bite you on occasion. You probably found out on the back nine.

SHANE LOWRY: I knew when I hit that second shot on 16, it was probably going to be in the back of the bunker in a bad lie. It was, but that was my fault for putting it there. Should have played the hole a bit differently. It is what it is.

Look, I managed to finish nicely, which is great. You forget about that, don't you? But it is disappointing. That double green hasn't been good to me this week. I'm 4-over for it. 16 and the 2nd has been my two double bogeys.

My only blemish on the scorecard today was a double bogey on that hole, which is pretty good to play 17 holes pretty flawless today. It is what it is.

Q. Is it easy to start chasing tomorrow?

SHANE LOWRY: No, I just have to do my own thing. Just keep playing. If I find myself 5-under after nine tomorrow, great. It can be done out here. So that's kind of what you need to hope for tomorrow.

But you don't go out firing at pins. You need to pick your moments and pick your time to kind of go at flags and stuff like that.

Q. Do a few putts, 14, 15.

SHANE LOWRY: Definitely do a few putts.

Q. Are you surprised with how low the scores are?

SHANE LOWRY: Not today because when you see -- even though the boys played in rain this morning and people might see that as difficult, it does soften it up. It's not the most pleasant stuff to play in, but it's not much wind. It does soften it up.

The course is gettable. Like it really was gettable this afternoon. I felt like it was. I feel like, when you're on the fairway, you can really hit it close. Not really that surprised. Look, the best golfers in the world are here. So kind of to be expected.

Q. Shane, David Carey, don't know if you notice, he shot a very good round, he shot a 67, he's 5-under. He's really in the mix. How well do you know David?

SHANE LOWRY: I don't really know him. I know who he is, but I don't really know him at all. That's great for him. Fair play to him. I'm pretty sure he's delighted with himself.

I did see a headline where he said he could win this week, so fair play to him for thinking that. All the best to him this weekend.