In-form Shane Lowry shakes off 'hurt' of Truist loss
Shane Lowry is satisfied he has shaken off the "hurt" of last Sunday's near miss at the Truist Championship and determined to keep giving himself chances to win until the door opens "eventually."
Lowry, without a win on his own on the PGA Tour since the 2019 Open Championship, was involved in a two-way battle with Ryder Cup team-mate Sepp Straka on Sunday, with a dropped stroke on the 16th and three-putt bogey on the final hole costing him another victory.
He departed the Philadelphia Cricket Club without talking to the media but three days later, on the eve of the year's second major, Lowry is in more philosophical mood, inclined to talk up his recent form.
On Monday - when the players arriving at Quail Hollow sat idle due to inclement weather in the area - the world rankings revealed that Lowry had cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career. Even if the US media only want to hear about the win tally.
"Sunday hurt a bit. I felt like I probably could have won that tournament," Lowry told RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen on Wednesday.
"I should have won that tournament.
"And it's hard to win out here. So when you give yourself chances like that, it stings, you know.
"I feel there has been a few disappointments this year. Sometimes you feel like golf keeps kicking you and kicking you. But you have to be patient and you have to wait for the good days to come. So hopefully, one of them is not too far away.
"I was conscious coming into a big week like this, you can get a couple of days when you're not feeling great about yourself because of something like that.
"It was actually nice that it was a forced day off on Monday with the weather. Allowed myself not to do much. Practice has been going pretty well the last couple of days.
"You just keep knocking on the door. It's all you can do. I was asked about it a lot last week, having not won in a while - they love talking about it over here..."
Lowry did win last year at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans though that was in a team event alongside Rory McIlroy. His last individual win saw him pip Mcilroy in the DP World Tour's PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2022, won in memorable fashion with a 65 on the Sunday.
Since then there have been a fair few near misses, and he was in contention at two majors in 2024, at one stage holding a three-stroke lead at the Open Championship at Royal Troon. But on each occasion, things got away from him on the final day.
Lowry stresses his game has ascended to an even better place since that win three years ago at Wentworth but no (individual) wins have arrived.
"Since the Ryder Cup in 2023, my game has been in a really good place. I've had some great results, played some great golf. I've been pretty happy. I have worked hard and I'm getting some rewards.
"It's hard to win out here. The standard's good. A couple of things go your way on Sunday and it could be a lot different. It hasn't been that way for me. But we could be talking about worse things. Giving myself chances is a great thing, it's a great place to be."
Twelve months ago, Lowry had a putt for a historic 61 on the third round at Valhalla. His past record around Quail Hollow suggests that similar heroics are unlikely this year.
The North Carolina course, hosting the US PGA Championship for the second time after Justin Thomas - another in-form player - won there in 2017, has received a cool reception in some quarters.
Hunter Mahan this week compared it to a Kardashian, saying it was "beautiful" but lacking "soul or character", while Lucas Glover sniffliy remarked that all the players will be hitting the ball "to the same place."
While McIlroy is famously at home around this year's US PGA Championship venue, with four wins, the reverse is true for Lowry.
"I will be completely honest with you, I wish we were at a venue that suited my game a little bit better," Lowry acknowledges.
"But I do feel like if I play my best golf, I can contend. But it'll be hard. I will have to play my best golf this week, but I am actually playing some of my best golf.
"I've no record around here at all. I've taken a little bit of a dive into the stats as to why that is and it's nothing to do with my tee-to-green play. It's more the rest of it.
"I feel like my game is probably in better shape, especially that part of it, than it's ever been coming into this time of year. So I'll try and look at the positives and work from there.
"I never dive into stats too much when I go to venues. But I wanted to try something different this week because I just have had no success here.
"In and around the greens, I never have done well here. But I don't think I've ever been in this position going into this week. I don't think I've ever chipped and putted as well around this time of year.
"I'll give it a run, see what happens. And if it's not this week, I'll dust myself off and I'll get ready for Memorial. And if it's not that week, I'll just keep going. I'll always try hard and work hard. And eventually, something good will happen."
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