Lowry relieved to head home after US Open torture: "I kept on getting kicked in the nuts every day"
Shane Lowry lines up a putt on the ninth green during the second round at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif. on Friday, June 18, 2021. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Shane Lowry can’t wait to get home today after he had a nightmare week on the greens and closed with an eight-over 79 to finish tied 65th in the US Open at Torrey Pines.
The 2019 Open champion went to San Diego with high hopes, but he finished 56th for driving accuracy and dead last for putting on the poa annua greens and must now regroup before next week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and his delayed defence of The Open in Sandwich.
“It was just hard. I kept on getting kicked in the nuts every day,” Lowry said after closing with a double-bogey seven after a 32-putt round.
“I felt like I was playing okay and the first day I had a triple on the fourth and came back well from that. The next day I had an easy double on 11 from nowhere. Even out there today I felt like I was playing decent but I was hitting it to 20 and 30 feet and it was hard to two-putt it.
“So yes, I struggled. I don’t think my game was in bad shape, I think it was just hard. That’s just the way the golf course is.
Lowry’s hopes of challenging for a second Major win evaporated in the third round when he added a 72 to opening rounds of 72 and 74.
Struggling from the tee, his lack of confidence on the greens was obvious from the start as he bunkered his approach and never threatened to hole a 15 footer for par, then missed from nine feet for birdie at the second.
Another shot went at the 521-yard, par-four sixth, where he drove into the deep rough and couldn’t get up and down..
After a 15-foot birdie chance failed to drop at the seventh, he bogeyed the par-three eighth when he came up short of the green, then failed to birdie the par-five ninth before dropping another shot at the 616-yard 13th, where he was unable to make the green with his third from left rough and getting a terrible lie in heavy rough off his tee shot.
A bad day got even worse when he drove into the canyon at the 14th and did well to get up and down from a greenside bunker for bogey.
But there was to be no uplifting finish as he three-putted the 16th and then missed another short putt for bogey at the last, pencilling in a seven to finish on 13-over.
“When it gets away from you it’s just hard,” he said. “I am out there today three over through 12 and it is not too bad but then I miss it just left on 13 and I could hardly see my ball.
“Make birdie there and I feel I could have gone on to shoot level par but I make bogey and then bogey 14. It’s just hard when you’re out there grinding in 50th place.”
Despite his struggles in California, Lowry has every reason to be upbeat about his summer and his quest for a Ryder Cup cap.
After finishing tied fourth with European Ryder Cup skipper Pádraig Harrington in the PGA Championship and tied sixth in The Memorial, his very best form is clearly not far away and he’s looking forward to getting home for the first time since Christmas and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet and then getting some links practice for The Open.
“First and foremost, I’m looking forward to getting back to Ireland tomorrow,” Lowry said on Sky Sports. “I haven’t been back since Christmas, and then the Irish Open is the following week, and we go to Royal St George’s to defend The Open, so that’s going to be pretty cool.
“It’s really cool the R&A have announced there’s going to be 32,000 people a day there which is great.
“We will have full grandstands and the real Open atmosphere that’s going to be nice, and I am obviously excited about that. Having the fans makes a huge difference.
“Even this week, there are 10,000 fans a day which is pretty nice, but it doesn’t feel like the PGA at Kiawah felt. It was a little quiet for me going out early with scores like that. So I am just excited for the next few months ahead.
“Obviously, The Open is in there, and my dad’s going to be able to come over, so it will be nice.”
