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THE 3 IRISH OPEN

May 16, 2009

Shane Lowry

BALTRAY, IRELAND

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Shane, welcome back. Fire away, your assessment of today.
SHANE LOWRY: Happy enough. A 71 is a respectable score out there today. Still in the lead, tied for the lead going into the final round. Couldn't really ask for anymore.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: I sense a little bit of disappointment.
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, bad bogey on the last, bad third shot and shouldn't really be going anywhere near that flag. Should have been middle of the green and have a putt for birdie and left myself a really tough putt. The first one was about 30 feet behind the pin but I hit it about six feet, missed, and hit a very bad second; I don't know.

Q. Do you feel you can still go out there and win?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, yeah. You know, I played good enough today that I did hole a couple of putts. That's golf, and could have been a couple better but could have been a couple worse. Happy enough. Played well all week and have a chance tomorrow.

Q. It's a bit outrageous that an amateur is disappointed that he's only tied for the lead in the Irish Open. You have to give yourself great credit for holding on the way you did.
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, because it was very tough out there today. It was nearly easier into the wind and it was very tough cross-wind. It's all swirling.
I holed some good putts, especially 14 and 17, holed good putts for par, and happy enough.

Q. Were you nervous?
SHANE LOWRY: It gets a little bit nervy, all right, coming up the last. Not really obviously nervous. If you were nervous, you wouldn't be human, really. Everyone gets nervous.
I would say I've been nervous more on the first tee; it will be exciting more than nothing else.

Q. What did you do during the delay?
SHANE LOWRY: I was sitting around. It's been a long day since the wake-up call at 6.15 this morning. It was fine, I got back out there --

Q. What were you doing?
SHANE LOWRY: Sitting in the players' lounge, was watching the match on TV for a while so it wasn't too bad.

Q. Was it an advantage that you only had to play one hole before they stopped?
SHANE LOWRY: It was easier when we got out there in the afternoon, not too much easier, but hitting 7-iron from 110 yards and the second hole when I come back out, the wind was basically the same, but just a small bit less.

Q. The fact that under pressure, leading is still leading, does that give you the self-belief to say that 18 holes more time, you could still be leading?
SHANE LOWRY: It does. I went out there today and you know, these guys have been doing it for years and this is my first event on The European Tour, and leading after three rounds, what can you say.

Q. Can I ask you two things, what sort of conditions would you like tomorrow or are you bothered?
SHANE LOWRY: It doesn't bother me.

Q. And are you aware the impact you made nationally the last couple of days or have you kept yourself away from that?
SHANE LOWRY: Not really. I've seen some of the papers all right, but no, I've just been keeping to myself. It's good that I'm staying so far away from the course, as well, get away from it every evening and just chill out.

Q. Did you have loads of text messages and well-wishing calls? Did you answer them?
SHANE LOWRY: I didn't reply to the texts because there were so many of them. There were 150. I had a couple of calls, took a couple of calls, but try not to take too many, you know.

Q. As much as you can in stroke-play competition, did you feel there was a little bit of an edge between yourself and Rock with him trying to get back at you?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, especially on the last. I knew he was going to hole that putt on the last. I knew it was a match-play situation there, two-shot swing on the last. Instead of two ahead going into tomorrow, you're tied.

Q. Presumably you would like to be the amateur ahead of the professionals and they obviously didn't want the amateur to be in that situation.
SHANE LOWRY: Obviously Edfors had a good score today. You know the way these guys are, they can come out and shoot 65 tomorrow, 64. You never know what's going to happen. I just have to go out and try to play my own game and try to finish as high up the leader board as I can, and if it's the top, so be it.

Q. What's the biggest pressure you've felt in your career, and what happened?
SHANE LOWRY: I can remember being more nervous before, playing amateur tournaments maybe. I played a couple of European Team Championship finals. They are very nerve-wracking because you are playing as a team, because you don't want to let them down, as well as yourself. I'm sure tomorrow will top that.

Q. Do you think The Ryder Cup is an exhibition? (Laughter).
SHANE LOWRY: No, no, I don't at all.

Q. Did you get the car out of the car park all right?
SHANE LOWRY: No, I got a courtesy car yesterday.

Q. Do you think playing with Robert again tomorrow will be a disadvantage, or would you prefer to maybe be playing with somebody else?
SHANE LOWRY: Doesn't really bother me. As I said, go out there and play golf and try and shoot as good of a score as I can.

Q. What were you doing Monday? Did you have anything planned?
SHANE LOWRY: I was supposed to go away with a couple of friends, but I don't think that will be happening now.

Q. Just a break?
SHANE LOWRY: Just at one of their houses in the north and play a few games of golf.
MICHAEL GIBBONS: Shane, very well played. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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