Lowry hopes to hit ground running at La Quinta
Shane Lowry returns to action in The American Express this week believing “the best is yet to come.”
The Offaly star admits that bar the Ryder Cup, his 2023 season was “pretty average” and he’s hoping to hit the ground running at La Quinta in California as he looks to secure his place in the big Signature Events in 2024 such as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
"I think obviously it goes without saying the highlight of my year was the Ryder Cup and that week, but a lot to improve, I think, in 2024,”
Lowry said. "But I think I've been around long enough to know that professional golf, it ebbs and flows, you just have to keep doing what you feel is right.
“As long as you do that and things aren't going too badly, you just have to believe that the best is yet to come.
"And I think that's what we're great at as professional golfers. We all believe that the best is yet to come and I'm hopeful that's the case.”
Lowry admits he putted “as bad as I ever have” for the first five months of 2023 but he now needs to start the season well if he’s to either qualify for the Signature Events or justify getting invitations from the Tour.
Lowry can make the field for Pebble Beach next month via the Swing 5 – the top FedExCup points earners from the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open.
As for the Genesis Invitational, he has the opportunity to make it via the top five in the FedEx Cup after the WM Phoenix Open.
But if he fails to get though via the FedExCup standings, Lowry can still make it via the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking (through the preceding week) or by landing one of four sponsor exemptions earmarked for PGA TOUR members.
"”Obviously, I didn't finish the top 50 on the PGA Tour who get into the Signature events,” added Lowry, who begins the season ranked 43rd in the world. “There's other criteria - the top 30 in the world gets you in. And then there's some invites and stuff. You can play your way in in the weeks leading up to it, which I would hope that I do anyway, but I'm hoping that the PGA Tour give me the odd invite anyway.
“I'd be hopeful that everything I've said and done over the last couple of years, that they might only be one or two invites anyway, to help me along the way.”
Lowry would normally be joining Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington in this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic but his status dictates he must join world number 89 Seamus Power, who closed with a two-over 72 to finish tied 72nd behind playoff winner Grayson Murray in the Sony Open, at La Quinta this week.
“I love playing in Dubai,” Lowry said. “I love playing that tournament. But I have to focus on the PGA Tour early on in the year. So when I play, I need to play well.”
Confident he has many years left at the top, Lowry added: “The smaller events that I play don't motivate me as much as they probably should do. But the big events motivate me — the majors, obviously The Players, the Olympics, obviously an Irish Open… the big events motivate me a lot.”
McIlroy is the hot favorite to retain his Dubai Desert Classic titles despite losing out to Tommy Fleetwood at Dubai Invitational on Sunday when he drove into water at the last and made bogey to Fleetwood’s closing bogey.
Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Open champion Brian Harman are McIlroy’s biggest rivals for a title he’s looking to win for the fourth time since 2011.
