Cape Town – Shane Lowry is rocketing up the world rankings thanks to some remarkably consistent golf.
Before the 2018 Open Championship, the Irishman was ranked 92nd in
the world but after kicking off 2019 with Sunday silverware at the Abu
Dhabi HSBC Championship and string of solid finishes, Lowry is sitting
pretty in 35th.
The last few weeks have boosted his ranking, as Lowry notched up
three consecutive top eight finishes and was T28 last time out at the US
Open at Pebble Beach.
“It’s probably the best I’ve been playing and definitely the best
first half of a season I have had in my whole career,” the four-time
winner told Irish Golf Desk.
“My confidence is pretty high, and I need to check my expectations a little bit.”
Lowry attributes his turn around to his caddy Brian Martin. Following
his win in Dubai, Lowry hit a rough patch, missing four cuts in seven
starts, including the Masters at Augusta.
“We had a chat after Augusta about what way we want to go about the rest of the season,” revealed Lowry.
“And that’s what we said again, the need to get back enjoying being
out on the course again. I think that’s what we’ve done for last couple
of months. It’s easier to do that when you’re shooting good scores.
“He is such a chilled out character, he is such a great help to me on
the course. I really feel like he has helped me over the last while and
relaxed me a little bit more than I used to be.”
Next up for Lowry is the Irish Open, an event he won as an amateur in 2009, his maiden victory.
“I don’t even want to try to start explaining how unbelievable it
would be for me to win next week so I going to try not to think about
for the next 12 days,” he added.
“I’d love to just go there and give myself a chance.”
