Shane Lowry aims to write another major chapter in his career
The 2019 Open Championship winner is back at the scene of the biggest triumph of his career as he returns to the place where he claimed the Claret Jug.
Six years on from Lowry's victory, the first by an Irishman on home soil, Royal Portrush is again the venue for the Open.
The Offaly man is certain to be one of the most followed golfers on the course and he's keeping an eye on everyone making their way there from the side of a house.
A huge mural commemorating the 2019 win was unveiled a year ago close to the course and Lowry is still struggling to come to terms with the sight of himself up there.
" The mural? It's never not going to be weird to me to be painted on the side of a wall," he told RTÉ Sport.
"It's very cool that the R&A have acknowledged what I achieved, and the local people have acknowledged what I achieved six years ago, because as an Irish person to do what I did was cool.
" That drive into Portrush will never get old and hopefully I'll be coming back for a few more Opens here as well. I really feel at home here and I'm excited for the week."
While Lowry is happy to reminisce on past glories, he's eager to write another major chapter in his career and believes he's in good shape to do that this week.
"What I did in 2019 was obviously very special," he said. "It's something that no matter what I do, I'll always have that.
"It's something that when I was growing up as a kid, I wouldn't have even dreamed of that because a dream that big is normally going to be a let-down.
"I think I just have to go out there this week and try and be myself and try and allow myself to play good golf. I feel like I'm playing some of the best golf in my career this year and I think if I just allow myself to keep doing that, you never know what could happen.
"I pride myself on putting myself in position on Saturday afternoons at majors and when the tough tournaments get going, that's when I feel like I'm at my best. It's going to be like that this week, it's going to be hard.
"I just want to get off to a good start, we all do. It will be like a tough enough mental battle for me to get there, but I think I'll be fine once Thursday morning comes.
"I'm getting older, so I feel like I need to do more to prepare and be a better version of myself.
"I feel like I've done that very well over the last number of years and I've prepared as good as I can for this. There's nothing else I can do."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
22 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Dustin the Turkey: "I will run to be president of Ireland"
Dustin the Turkey has said that he intends to run for the presidency of Ireland and has claimed that out-going President Michael D Higgins has endorsed him for the role. With former EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness confirmed as Fine Gael's candidate and Independent TD Catherine Connolly expected to launch her campaign tomorrow, the singer, tv host and occasional carpenter has said that he "owes it to the people of Ireland" to make a bid to become head of state. Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Dustin said, "Look, I'll be honest with you - I am willing to move to a smaller property, I will go to the Phoenix Park and I will embrace it. "I can do stupid poems in Irish like your man, Mickey D Higgins, and funny enough, Michael D said to me, `Dustin, you should go for it and I'll leave my wardrobe here at Áras an Uachtaráin because it is the exact same size, it will fit you', so I can just go straight up. "Now, he has bit more of a Ned Kelly then me but I'd be straight into Áras an Uachtaráin and you know, my First Lady, or Vogue Williams as she is known, would be great, too. "Sometimes you see her and you don't whether to snog her or throw her a bale of hay - with teeth like that, she looks like she won the Grand National last year." Dustin, who harboured presidential ambitions before when he ran in 1997, added, "The short answer is of course I will be running for the presidency, I am not ruling myself out because the people of Ireland have been good to me and I should be giving back to them. "I ran against Mary Robinson and she was a good president but she put a light in the window and left the door open and that's a dangerous thing to do on the north side. "Then we had Mary McAleese and then we nearly had a lad from Cavan, that's how bad this country was getting but Mickey D stepped in and I think he was a good president apart from the stupid poems as Gaeilge but he is a good honest man." Dustin was speaking as he opened the newly refurbished branch of hardware shop Chadwicks in his native Sallynoggin, deep in South Country Dublin. A chip off the old block, the famous turkey, who rose to fame as a host of RTÉ kids show The Den alongside Zig and Zag, said he decided to support his local DIY outlet because he wanted to give something back to neighourhood that made him who he is. "You hit the nail on the head there," he said. "The people of Sallynoggin raised me. It is one of those communities where you can leave your back door open. Now, you'll get robbed, but you can leave your back door open, they'll even rob the back door. "When Chadwicks told me they were refurbin', I put in a tender for it, right? But apparently, some Eastern European builders got it because they turn up in time and charge a fair price and come back if there's anything wrong." Another high profile position in Ireland waiting to be filled is the new host of Liveline following Joe Duffy's departure from the role last June, and Dustin is more than ready to take over. "Me and Joe get on well," he said. "Joe was the ringmaster of a circus full of clowns and I'd be able to continue that on Livelive. You get all the nuts and madsters coming on and you just say, "dear god, dear god, dear god . . . I don't know what to do' and you get a quarter a million a year. It's that simple."
Extra.ie
an hour ago
- Extra.ie
All the Irish Emmy Award nominees as full list revealed
Three Irish actors are up for prestigious Emmy awards, as the ceremony announced their nominations. Colin Farrell is leading the way, as he's up for Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie following his critically acclaimed performance in The Penguin. Also on the list of nominees is Sharon Horgan, whose role in Bad Sisters has seen her get a nod for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Colin Farrell (underneath all the prosthetics) has been nominated for Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 2025 Emmys. Pic: HBO. And rounding out the trio is Ruth Negga, whose performance as Barbara Sabich in legal thriller Presumed Innocent has seen her pick up a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Colin has already won an IFTA, SAG award, Critic's Choice Award, Golden Globe and Satellite Award for his work as the titular gangster, but faces formidable competition in the category, as Jake Gyllenhaal and Stephen Graham, the latter of whom's performance in Adolescence was a massive critical success, are also nominated for the award. Brian Tyree Henry and Cooper Koch, who starred in Dope Thief and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, are also both nominated. Sharon Horgan is up for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, for her role in Bad Sisters. Pic: Brian McEvoy Ruth also has tough competition in her category, as Erin Doherty — who played the counsellor in the most memorable episode of Adolescence — and Christine Tremarco, who played Jamie's dad in Adolescence, are also both up for supporting actress. Chloe Sevigny, Deirdre O'Connell and Jenny Slate round out the category. And in Outstanding Lead Actress, Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us is a standout nominee alongside Sharon, while Kathy Bates, Britt Lower and Keri Russell finish off the category. Ruth Negga is also up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, for her role in Presumed Innocent. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire The 2025 Emmys will take place on September 15.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Bryson DeChambeau focuses on links test over Rory McIlroy rivalry as he arrives in Portrush
The room expected a more aggressive energy field from Bryson DeChambeau in his first interview after arriving on Irish soil. His rivalry with Rory McIlroy has refused to die and recently he said he'd love nothing more than to beat him 'especially in front of his own crowd'. McIlroy mused this week on creativity versus power as the best way to get the ball around the links course at Royal Portrush, with those looking into McIlroy's mind reading it as DeChambeau's muscular game perhaps relying too heavily on science rather than the more nuanced 'artistry' required to win. While McIlroy won The Open in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, DeChambeau's best effort to win the oldest championship in the world was a T8 in 2022 at St Andrews. READ MORE Either way, for those hoping for a taste of golf as a blood sport two days before the first players tee off, DeChambeau was a let-down with his willing Californian smile and an open, shoot-the-breeze kind of charm. 'Great question,' he even quipped to one inquiry. 'Just have fun this week and be strategic. I'm trying to ride the wind,' he said. 'A heavy wind is a great way to describe it. It's thick.' There were no snide remarks or concealed digs, no reprisals or escalation of the rivalry. The drama of Portrush was what grabbed him. The LIV Tour player, one of 19 in The Open field, is not used to playing links golf and has been troubled by trying to develop a game that suits a punishing course where it is expected to blow. [ No flies on us as we look forward to new views of the Open Opens in new window ] Yesterday it was modest at 21km/h, although Met Office warned of potential disruption around the local area between 11am and 5pm. Play was halted twice due to a threat of lightning on Monday. 'You're feeling the wind, how much it's coming into you and if it's off the left or right a lot more than normal,' said DeChambeau. 'Okay, how do I feel? How do I turn this into the wind? If you're going to try to ride the wind one time, how do I control and make sure it doesn't go into a crazy place? Because once the ball goes into that wind, it's sayonara. That thing can go forever offline. It will turn east sometimes. 'You know, it's one of those situations where you're in the environment and you go, all right, this feels like a 15-mile-an-hour wind, and all of a sudden it plays like a 30-mile-an-hour wind, and you're like, what the heck?' Bryson DeChambeau during a press conference ahead of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He plans to 'have fun this week and be strategic'. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA DeChambeau will open his championship with England's Justin Rose and Scotland's Bob MacIntyre. It is a fact of life on the LIV tour that the players do not have the opportunity to play on links courses and was an issue Joh Rahm brought up last year, bemoaning the fact that without playing on the coastal courses, their chances of winning an Open significantly decline. The 31-year-old also arrived at Portrush with a personality makeover since his last visit in 2019, when he missed the cut. His venture into 'fun' YouTube events and behind-the-scenes footage have softened the image to his 1.5 million subscribers of the beefcake who simply beats the bejaysus out of a golf ball. 'I think people see a different side of me on YouTube, where I can have fun, I can enjoy, I try to relate to others as much as I possibly can has been fun to show,' he said. 'For me, I always go back to what footprint can I leave now? I'm not going to be here forever. I'm not going to win every tournament. 'Yeah, am I going to get frustrated playing bad golf? Yeah. Am I going to want to still sign autographs? Yeah, because I care about the game.' But the golfer, who plays for a LIV team called Crushers, is far from retiring the hot-blooded image. Has no intention of going soft. 'I'll walk through the fire rather than run away from it,' he said. 'I'm still the fiery, want to go, competitive go-getter that I've always been.'
