Lowry considering US move: "We have big decisions to be made
Shane Lowry hits a putt on the seventh green during the first round at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) in Mamaroneck, N.Y. on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (Chris Keane/USGA)
SHANE LOWRY is seriously considering a permanent move to the US as he bids to add to his 2019 Open Championship triumph.
The Clara man (34) has bought a home in Florida and while no definitive decision has yet been made, he feels using the US as his base could be the best solution for his game.
“[My daughter] Iris has just turned four and she starting school soon so we have big decisions to be made in the next six months,” Lowry told RTE Radio’s Greg Allen on Saturday Sport. “I think this is where golf is going to be for the foreseeable future, if you want to play at the highest level.”
Hoping the next "six, seven, eight years will be the best years of my career,” he added, “I’m very driven. I’m more driven now than I’ve ever been. I really want to do a lot in this game and I really feel like I’ve got the ability to do a lot and hopefully I can give people at home something to cheer about over the next while.”
On the PGA Tour, Graeme McDowell and Matt Wallace were left to rue a quadruple-bogey eight as they tied for 23rd on 12-under, eight shots outside a playoff between Australians Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith and South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen after closing with a level par 72 the foursomes in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
They opened with two birdies at TPC Louisiana before hitting successive tee shots into water right at the 482-yard fourth and then bogeyed the ninth before rallying with three back-nine birdies. Scores
Leishman and Smith closed with a 70 to a 71 for overnight leaders Schwartzel and Oosthuizen. But Oosthuizen drove into the water on their return to the par-five 18th for the playoff and the South Africans made a double-bogey seven as the Australians claimed the title with a par five.
On the European Tour, Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney closed with a two-under 68 to tie for 21st on 14-under with Jonathan Caldwell, who shot 66, in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open. Scores
South African left-hander Gareth Higgo shot a seven-under 63 to win by three shots from Germany’s Max Kieffer on 25-under 255 — the lowest total in the history of the European Tour by two strokes — but Kearney was thrilled to see his winter practice with coach Eddie Doyle pay off.
“I am very happy with the week,” said Kearney (33), who now plays this week’s Tenerife Open, where Holywood’s Tom McKibbin (18) will make his professional debut, and next week’s Canary Islands Championship.
“I practised a huge amount throughout lockdown with my coach Eddie Doyle in my studio in Baldoyle and also at The Heritage and it was great to see the long hours come to fruition on the course over the last few days. I had great ball control in the wind which was very satisfying. I had great ball control in the wind which was very satisfying,”
Kearney, who had his father Joe on his bag, is now looking forward to two more weeks in the Canaries after initially planning on just a week’s golf in the sun on the Spanish mainland.
“I went to Spain to play a few games with my Dad and a great friend from Royal Dublin, Enda O’Malley, who winters out there but I didn’t realise I was going to get into these events until the entry lists dropped and so we came straight down here from Spain.
“I was booked to go to South Africa for Challenge Tour. We got a suitcase shipped over from Ireland as we weren’t prepared for three or four weeks on the road!”
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Brandon Stone birdied the first extra hole to win for the first time in almost three years at the Challenge Tour’s Limpopo Championship at Euphoria Golf Club. Scores
He closed with a two-under 70 to tie with compatriots Oliver Bekker, Hennie du Plessis and Daniel van Tonder on eight-under-par.
