AMGEN IRISH OPEN

September 13, 2024

Shane Lowry

Royal County Down GC

Quick Quotes

Q. In you have to look at that being a good day's work?

SHANE LOWRY: It was. Felt like I hit some great shots. Drove the ball brilliantly. Gave myself a few chances and then yeah, the last was smelly. Obviously 16 was a big kick in the you know what. To hit that drive and then come off with 5 was pretty disappointing. Felt like I got myself going pretty well after that.

To finish like that, look, to come in here and talk to you guys after 10, 15 minutes is pretty disappointing but when I go back and assess my round, I'll be pretty happy with what I did today.

Q. The body of work over the first two days, considering you put yourself behind the 8-ball after the first round but you are in a position where you can challenge over the weekend and that surely is satisfactory?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, and look, the conditions are going to be tough. It's going to be windy tomorrow. We might get a bit of rain apparently. So yeah, it's not going to take too good a score to give yourself a chance going into Sunday. I'll be ready for tomorrow and hopefully give it my best.

Q. I remember rough conditions in Baltray. But in general, the feeling of being in the mix, and you will be in the mix by the at the end of the day more than likely, 36 holes to go, what can you do on this really strategically difficult challenge?

SHANE LOWRY: I know I can go and give it a run. I think it's what the tournament wants and needs. Obviously myself and Rory is up there. It would be great if the two of us could give it a run on Sunday. You never know. It would be nice to go toe-to-toe on Sunday. We'll see. It's up to me to get myself there. I'm pretty sure he'll get there, anyway.

Q. You seem to be settling in today.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I am. I came back after a long stretch after THE TOUR Championship. I'll be completely honest, I was completely shattered. Didn't get to do much practise last week and tried to rest as much as I can.

Coming into this week, I was probably a little bit underprepared but I went out there and I was really happy how I played the first two days and I'm right in the tournament and can give it a run now from here.

Q. How disciplined do you have to be out there? It's benign today.

SHANE LOWRY: You don't even -- you know, discipline, but even good shots might not get rewarded out there. The greens are very narrow. Lots of run-offs. So you really need to be careful where you're missing your shots, and even like I said, some good shots can get punished. Yeah, you just need to -- when you get out of position, you just need to make bogey at worst and get on with it.

Birdies are very hard to come by out there. They really are. You need to take care of the par 5s. If you don't do that, you feel like you're behind the black ball. That's what this course is about. If you can do that, I feel like if you can take care of the par 5s on 16, you probably shoot a good score.

Q. Your coach obviously trained here. They say it's a defense course. Would you agree with that?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, play front edges but the problem is when the pins are at the back and you've got 70-footers from front edge, it's not much fun either. I had a few of those. That's all right if you're playing PGA golf like he was, not on the European Tour. We need to make birdies out here (laughing). That's a slight dig at him, not anyone else.

But yeah, you do, like you really need to, like on 9 there, I probably got a little bit fortunate with my second shot. If it had gone where it should have gone, it would have been a lot trickier.

Q. Physically, you've been saying you've been tired but mentally you must be pleased at how you're reacting?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think I've been good at that this year. I've done a good job this year. I feel like I'm in a good head space with everything at the minute and it's easy to play good golf and get yourself back in when things are not going well, to get yourself back when it's like that.

Yeah, I'm trying to ride that wave as long as I can par.

Q. Did you see the leaders --

SHANE LOWRY: I assumed the leader was 8-under -- it was Laurie Canter was five and the other guy was four. There's still a lot of golf to be played. Not taking too much heed of that. Still intrigued what the winning score will be. I still don't think it will be too far under par.

Q. Winning Race to Dubai or Order of Merit, is that on your bucket list one of these days?

SHANE LOWRY: I'd love to do it. I don't think I play enough in Europe to do it. I think you need to have a really good major season and win one of the big events, as well, in Europe. Rory is a long way ahead this year. Looks like he's going to win another one.

Look, it's something I'd love to do. I had a couple of chances. 2018, I had a bit of a chance and another year, I was top five going into it.

But yeah, like I'll be completely honest. The way the game is now, it's hard to, you set out your goals at the start of the year, the major season really needs to be kind to you. Because I am playing quite a bit now towards the end of the year but I probably need to win every tournament between now and then to do it to catch Rory.

Q. Playing both sides of the pond --

SHANE LOWRY: It's hard.

Q. Is it easier now with the Ryder Cup qualifying change and people like Tom, maybe gets his card?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it is, but it's a bit easier for us playing the Ryder Cup qualifying, but I would say whoever deserves to be on the team will be on the team. If you play good enough in Europe, I'm sure you get a pick.