Lowry seeks big finish in Atlanta: “This season has been a close second to 2019”
Shane Lowry is looking to polish off what he reckons is the second-best season of his career with a big finish in the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
The 2019 Open champion combined some great ball striking with another hot performance on the greens, making 145 feet of putts in a six-under 65 to sit alone in eighth place on 13-under.
He might be 13 shots behind runaway leader Scottie Scheffler under the staggered start format, but he’s just six behind in the non-starting strokes event and aims to try and win that to turn a good season into a great one.
“I would have liked to have won individually,” Lowry said of a season that’s brought him a win with Rory McIlroy in New Orleans and four top-10 finishes, including a chance to win his second Open at Royal Troon .
“Obviously, I won the team event with Rory. I felt I gave myself a lot of chances, performed well in a couple of majors.
“I'm probably as consistent as I've ever been throughout a regular season on the PGA TOUR. So I'm pretty happy.
“I think 2019 is a standout year for me for obvious reasons. But I think this season has been a close second.”
Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes and shot a five-under 66 to lead by five shots from Collin Morikawa, who shot 67, on 26-under.
But Lowry is looking to put pressure on the leaders with a hot final round.
With the winner taking home a $25 million FedEx Cup bonus and with $12.5 million for second, $7.5 million for third, $6 million for fourth and $5 million for fifth, there’s a lot at stake.
“Look, Scottie is probably going to win,” Lowry said before Scheffler’s brilliant finish.
“But you know, winning a tournament like this is not easy. If I can make a big push, shoot seven under tomorrow and get to 20, you never know,
“These players are human as well. They're not robots. So, yeah, we'll see how it goes. But for me, it's just trying to finish as high up the leaderboard as I can.
“I thought to myself going into this week, if I can win the actual event, you know, without the starting numbers, that will be a pretty good week. So I'm doing all right so far, and hopefully I can finish It off.”
As for the key to his season, Lowry credits a change of putter in spring as an important watershed.
“I needed a change back in April, May time when I was really struggling on the greens,” he explained.
“I decided to put a new putter in and just go with something else and get back to putting with a bit more feel
“I was very fortunate I got to spend a couple of hours with Luke Donald around the same time as well, and I got some nice pointers off him. It's worked well for the last five or six months.
“I've got speed drills and holing out drills that I do every day religiously, and it's made me a lot more consistent.
“And my numbers have been pretty good for the back half of the season because early on the season, I felt like I was playing great golf, and I just wasn't getting much out of it.
“It’s nice to see a few long putts go in. But for me, it's nice to feel confident over the five six-footers. When I started to lose confidence, I struggled on those.”
Rory McIlroy is tied for 10th on 11-under after a 68 following a far more consistent day.
But Scheffler is the man to beat, and after losing a six-shot lead to McIlroy in the final round in 2022, shooting 73 to McIlroy’s 66, he’s not focusing on his lead this year.
“I'm just gonna go out and do my thing and try and execute shots,” Scheffler said.
“You know, this is a golf course where there's a lot of birdies out there to be made, and so I'll be doing my best to continue to work my way up the leaderboard, not think about what other guys are doing.
“I've had my chances here to win some tournaments, and no better opportunity than tomorrow.
“Going into the round, I am not going to think about it too much. I know the stuff that I'm good at, and that’s staying in the moment and trying to execute.
“And you know, I've been mentally at my best this year. So I’m looking forward to doing more of that tomorrow.”
