LOWRY Shane

General
MAJOR LESSON
After winning the 2019 Open Championship in Portrush, Northern Ireland, he spoke about the pressure and relief of winning one of golf's major tournaments. His maiden major title came three years after the disappointment of dropping a four-shot lead heading into the final round at the 2016 US Open in Oakmont, PA, United States of America, where he eventually went on to finish in joint second position. "It's not a nice place to be [pressure of winning a major]. It's where you want to be as a golfer and I hope I'm in that situation again, but anyone telling you to, 'Go out and enjoy yourself?' They are mad or don't know what they are talking about. It's the most unenjoyable weekend of your life. You realise the magnitude of the whole thing. I'm not bigging myself up but in this game you are only ever one week away from greatness. That's why I took Oakmont [2016] so badly, when you are in that position and you let it slip, it's so hard to take. If I hadn't won at Portrush [2019] from that [starting] position on Sunday, I still wouldn't be over it. Oakmont took longer than I realised. My form went really bad after what had been a good 12-18 months. I will probably always look back and think I should have won but everyone has one of those." (theguardian.com, 05 Apr 2020; sportsjoe.ie, 01 Jan 2019)

MOVE TO UNITES STATES OF AMERICA
In 2018 he moved from Ireland to Jupiter, FL, United States of America, with his family to focus playing on the PGA Tour. "I'd prefer to be in Ireland. I love home so much, I love living in Dublin, but I do like living over here. It's a great lifestyle. We're very well settled in America, we love it here. I feel it's much better for my game being here than living in Ireland, 100%. There's no doubt about it. I've got a great opportunity over here and that's what living in Florida gives me." (rte.ie, 24 Apr 2021; golfbytourmiss.com, 01 Jan 2018)

SHORT GAME
He says growing up playing at the Esker Hills Golf Club in Tullamore, Ireland, helped to develop his short game. "I think the reason my short game is quite good is that all the greens there [Esker Hills] are raised. I used to play a lot of golf on my own and I'd practice my chipping a lot. You'd always have to chip it up with a little bit of spin to get the ball close. I was never taught how to play them but I chipped and I chipped and I chipped and over time I developed it." (golfmonthly.com, 05 Apr 2021)

FURTHER EDUCATION
In 2005 he graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland with a higher certificate in sport. (irishcentral.com, 21 Jul 2019; athlone.ie Facebook page, 17 Oct 2012; ucd.ie, 01 Jan 2021, 18 May 2009)