Shane Lowry ‘punched in the gut' as PGA Tour ace reflects on season to date ahead of brutal US Open test at Oakmont
SHANE LOWRY has made an honest admission ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont.
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Shane Lowry made an honest admission ahead of this week's U.S. Open at Oakmont
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Lowry after finishing T2 to Sepp Straka at the Truist Championship
2019 Open champion Lowry has reached a career-high in the world rankings and sits in his best-ever position in the FedEx Cup after a very solid campaign so far.
But the Irishman reckons he hasn't gotten his just deserts, having failed to bag a title despite several near misses.
Offaly native Lowry has two second-place finishes on the Tour this season — at the
And he'll be looking to claim his first PGA Tour solo-sanctioned win since 2019 at this week's brutally tough U.S. Open test at the revered Oakmont.
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He said: 'I think it's the best I've ever been, but I don't feel like I'm getting rewards, to be honest, because every Sunday I come off the golf course I feel like I'm after getting punched in the gut.
'It's been a very consistent, very good year, but I can't remember the last time I walked off the 18th green on the Sunday afternoon happy with myself. So that's hard to take.
'But there will be some Sunday soon, hopefully, where I'm walking off that 18th green, pretty happy and pretty proud of myself. Hopefully it'll be this week.'
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The Clara native can take some confidence into tomorrow's opening round, having finished T2 at this venue during the 2016 U.S. Open.
World number 12 Lowry has fared well on the tougher PGA Tour tracks over the last few seasons — courses such as Bay Hill and Muirfield Village — which are considered major-level tests.
DeChambeau and Rose's response to how club golfers would cope at Oakmont US Open course
Lowry gets his
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Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy will be hoping to put his
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy practises with Shane Lowry as friends paired for opening two rounds
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were first out on the course at Oakmont on Tuesday morning ahead of the first round of the US Open. The close pals were in high spirits as they played some holes together early in the morning on the notoriously challenging layout. McIlroy was followed around by his putting coach Brad Faxon, while Shane Lowry's coach Neil Manchip was also with the group. It has been a strange couple of weeks for McIlroy, who has struggled for form following his sensational win at the Masters. At last week's Canadian Open, McIlroy slumped to his worst-ever finish on the PGA Tour as rounds of 71 and 78 saw him finish on nine-over-par and miss his first cut since the 2024 Open Championship. But McIlroy will be hoping to be inspired by Lowry, whom he practised alongside before his historic win at Augusta. The close pals were in high spirits as they played some holes together on the notoriously challenging layout. McIlroy was followed around by his putting coach Brad Faxon, while Shane Lowry's coach Neil Manchip was also walked the course. The pair have also been paired together for their opening two rounds at the US Open. But McIlroy will be hoping to be inspired by Lowry, whom he practised alongside before his historic win at Augusta. McIlroy claimed his first and only U.S. Open title in 2011 but struggled in the tournament for several years afterward, missing the cut four times between 2012 and 2018, including at Oakmont in 2016. But the Holywood man has not finished outside the top ten since 2018 and has gone agonisingly close to winning his second US Open in recent years. At the Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, he lost a duel with Wyndham Clark, finishing one stroke behind the American. And last year, McIlroy was disconsolate after two missed putts from inside five feet saw him defeated by Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst. He returns this year, though, as only the sixth man to ever complete the career grand slam.
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
JJ Spaun leads at US Open as Pavon attacks, Scheffler struggles
JJ SPAUN was starting to feel intimidated by Oakmont horror stories heading into his first experience of the iconic layout at this week's US Open. Spaun, however, took his nervous energy and channelled it into a bogey-free four-under-par 66 on Thursday to equal the best US Open first round ever fired at the famously challenging course. 'I didn't really feel like I'm going to show a bogey-free round four-under. I didn't really know what to expect especially since I've never played here,' Spaun said. 'But yeah, maybe sometimes not having expectations is the best thing, so I'll take it.' The 34-year-old American began on the back side, made birdies on four of the first eight holes, then closed with 10 pars, some of them grinding long putts or rescues from rough to ease his worries. 'All you've been hearing is how hard this place is, and it's hard to not hear the noise,' Spaun said. 'I was actually pretty nervous. 'But I actually tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better, I guess. 'I get more in the zone, whereas if I don't have any worry or if I'm not in it mentally, it's kind of just a lazy round or whatever out there. 'I like feeling uncomfortable. I ended up feeling pretty comfortable towards the end of the day, but there's a long way to go still.' Advertisement Spaun won his only PGA Tour title at the 2022 Texas Open and this year was second at the Cognizant Classic and Players Championship, losing a playoff to second-ranked Rory McIlroy. 'I didn't win, but it was great for me to lean back on that experience and know I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure,' Spaun said. 'There's going to be a lot of pressure this week, too, and hopefully I can rely on those experiences. 'I've been consistently right there. And everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you're going to have results and the better you're going to play, eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.' South Africa's Thriston Lawrence is one shot adrift of Spaun on 67, with France's Matthieu Pavon making a charge and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler struggling. Alongside Lawrence at three-under was nack-nine starter Pavon, who birdied 12 from inside three feet, the 14th from just inside eight feet and drove the green at 17 for a tap-in birdie. Scheffler endured a roller-coaster round as favourites tumbled, standing on one-over after 12 holes with four bogeys and three bogeys. Two-time Masters champion Scheffler, whose nine wins last year included Paris Olympic gold, has won three of his past four starts, including last month's PGA Championship. He is trying to become the first man to capture consecutive majors since Jordan Spieth in 2015. South Africa's Lawrence, third in last year's European Tour Race to Dubai, drove the green at 17 and sank a four-foot birdie putt then escaped the right rough to par 18 and shoot 67. 'I like a tough test,' he said. 'I feel like it fairly suits me.' World number two Rory McIlroy, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters, fired a 74. The back-nine starter birdied 11 and 12 but made four bogeys and a double bogey on his second nine. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau shot 73 with five bogeys and two birdies. 'Pretty disappointed with how I played,' DeChambeau said. Six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who turns 55 on Monday, opened with a 74 in his bid to complete a career Grand Slam. - Reed makes an albatross - American Patrick Reed made the fourth albatross in US Open history from the fairway from 286 yards on the fourth hole, the first at any major since Nick Watney in the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club. Ireland's Shane Lowry holed out from the fairway from 160 yards for the first US Open eagle at Oakmont's third hole, but it was his lone bright spot in a round of 79. American Maxwell Moldovan made the first US Open eagle at the first, holing out from the fairway from 189 yards, then looking to the heavens with a smile. He fired a 76. You can view the full leaderboard here – © AFP 2025
The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
McIlroy unravels after strong start at US Open, Lowry struggles
RORY MCILROY AND Shane Lowry both endured a difficult start to the US Open as Oakmont Country Club proved to be as tough a test as anticipated. McIlroy was two-under through his first three holes on Thursday, but a disappointing six-over for the remainder — culminating in a double-bogey at the par-three eighth — as he signed for a round of four-over par 74. Lowry, who was runner-up the last time that Oakmont hosted the US Open in 2016, struggled to a nine-over par 79 which could have been even worse but for a hole-out from 160 yards for eagle at the third. JJ Spaun is the clubhouse leader on four-under after the morning's play in Pittsburgh, his stunning 66 only the eighth bogey-free round at Oakmont in US Open history. Advertisement Teeing off alongside Lowry and Justin Rose on the 10th, McIlroy opened par-birdie-birdie to jump to the top of the leaderboard early on. After holing a 27-foot birdie at the 11th, the world number two launched a monstrous 392-yard drive at the par-five 12th before a brilliant second shot and two putts from 60 feet for birdie and a share of the lead. McIlroy hits his LONGEST drive of the season ‼️ A MONSTER 392-yard drive sets him up for eagle 👀 — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 12, 2025 McIlroy stared down Oakmont's test in a bogey-free back nine to make the turn in an impressive two-under before the course bit back, starting with a missed six-footer for par on the first. Further trouble followed at the par-five fourth where he was right off the tee and needed two shots to get out of the rough, saving himself from an even worse fate by holing a 30-footer to salvage bogey. But in the end, Rory does his best salvage job with a bogey putt from 30+ feet. — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025 However, his challenge stalled with a cruel final run of back-to-back bogeys at the sixth and seventh and then a double when he overshot the green with his tee-shot at the par-three eighth. Playing partner Lowry has plenty of work to do after a topsy-turvy round which included three doubles as well as the first-ever US Open eagle at Oakmont's third hole, where he managed a rueful smile as he holed out from all of 160 yards. How good is this from Shane Lowry?! 🦅 — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 12, 2025 Behind leader Spaun, just four other players shot rounds under par from the morning wave: South Africa's Thriston Lawrence who is one shot back on three-under, Si-Woo Kim, who opened with a two-under par 68, and Ben Griffin and Thomas Detry, who both shot opening 69s.
