Shane Lowry has been through a tough spell. Photo Jenny Matthews/www.golffile.ieShane Lowry was “relieved” to make the Irish Open cut after a nightmare two-month spell.

But the 2009 champion insisted he had no plans to change his approach the game or take on a sports shrink.

Delighted to birdie the ninth for a 68 that left him in the pack alongside Darren Clarke on four under, Lowry said: “Relieved is a good word for it.

“I wasn’t looking forward to that ninth tee to be honest. It is a quite tight on the left with the wind and the rain coming in at you as well.

“I knew I definitely needed a par to make the cut and the way things have been going for me the last couple of months…

“Every week I feel like I’m in a  position where I need a good last few holes to make the cut and I haven’t been doing it.

“It is great to do it here because it would have been very disappointing to miss the cut here. The birdie on the ninth was relieving.”

Ranked 103rd in the Race to Dubai, Lowry has made just one his last four cuts but reckons he can make a weekend charge now that the pressure is off.

He said: “Let loose is a good way to describe it. Hopefully I can kick on at the weekend and shoot a couple of decent scores.

“I seem to play more freely on the weekend. The tight tee shots don’t worry me that much and I tend to go at the tight flags.”

Lowry doesn’t like to get to caught up in technique and dismissed suggestions that a sports psychologist might be an option.

He said: “Obviously a little doubt comes into your mind. When things aren’t going your way you always look for the quick fix.

“I came off the first round at Wentworth and I shot one-under and I remember asking, ‘how did I shoot one-under there? It could easily have been five, six, seven, anything.

“That’s just how my golf is going recently. I just need to keep plugging away. That’s this game, isn’t it?”