Different Strokes: Lowry looks to put ‘barren spell’ behind him as focus turns to Masters

Shane Lowry’s eyes are shifting forward towards the Masters – he’s on a two-day trip there this week with Séamus Power for starters – and he also intends to use the week beforehand by practising at The Bear’s Club near his Florida home where the promise of green speeds of 14-plus is on the stimpmeter.

After a hectic itinerary of late – three events in the Middle East and then five straight in the United States, with only one week’s break in between – Lowry’s only tournament between now and the Masters will be at next week’s WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas.

And with so many facets of his game in a good place, the one element that will get priority treatment is his putting. Lowry has chopped and changed putters in recent weeks: “I changed my grip and started working pretty hard with Stephen Sweeney (who also numbers Collin Morikawa among his players) about two years ago and it’s been going pretty good. But it’s just been a bit of a barren spell the last few weeks.

“There’s no drastic changes needed, just a bit of confidence. There’s a lot of it between the ears as well and I just need to get that right. Maybe commit to it a little more.”

US PGA: Scottie Scheffler shoots second round 66 after early morning arrest

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Scottie Scheffler tees off at Valhalla hours after being arrested in incident before US PGA second round

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'Right now, he's going to jail': footage of Scottie Scheffler's arrest released

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Scottie Scheffler: After his arrest, that’s the last time anyone will call the world No1 dull and boring

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Of heading back to Augusta, initially for the two-day working trip and then for the tournament itself in three weeks, Lowry said: “I remember going into Augusta last year I felt really good the week beforehand, practice was going well and it was after having some good results. Hopefully, I can go to the Match Play and have a good result and feel good about my game.”

Lowry survived the players cut on the limit but made an upward move that eventually saw him finish tied-35th and earn a payday of $114,167 but only make a slight upward move in the FedEx Cup standings, from 97th to 96th.

Galitsky opens door to Majors

No financial gain but 16-year-old Eila Galitsky – who holds dual nationality of Thailand and Canada – was one of the big golfing winners over the weekend, with her victory in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship opening the door to a number of Majors on the women’s circuit.

Although ranked only 193rd in the world amateur rankings, Galitsky’s five-stroke winning margin over South Korea’s Minsol Kim, ranked 14th, earned her invitations to the AIG Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Champions – all Majors – while also earning her a spot in the 120th Women’s Amateur in June and, most immediately, the Augusta National Women’s Invitational later this month which is staged ahead of the Masters tournament.

By the Numbers: 1

In a skinny week for Irish players on tour, Tom McKibbin is the only Irishman in the field for the SDC Championship at St Francis Links in Eastern Cape, the first of back-to-back weeks in South Africa for tournaments co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour.

Word of Mouth

“Sport is brutal, and golf’s no different” – Tyrrell Hatton’s succinct take on earning the right to be in all of the big tournaments. Hatton’s runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler moved the Englishman up to 17th in the latest world rankings, while he moved from 69th to 26th in the updated FedEx Cup standings.

On this day: March 14th,1971

Arnold Palmer, aka The King, would attach his name to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his own good time... but, before it was named in his honour, it was known as the Florida Citrus Open Invitational and played on the other side of Orlando at Rio Pinar Country Club.

Palmer’s only win in the tournament came in the 1971 edition, when he opened with a 66 and then shot three successive rounds of 68 for a total of 18-under-par 270 that gave him a one stroke winning margin over Julius Boros. It was the 59th of 62 career wins which Palmer claimed on the PGA Tour.

In the Bag

Jorge Campillo - Magical Kenya Open

Driver – Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9 degrees)

3-wood – Callaway Paradym X (16 degrees)

Hybrid – Callaway Apex UW (19 degrees)

Irons – Callaway Apex TCB (4-6), Callaway Apex MB (7-9)

Wedges – Callaway Jaws Mack Daddy 5 (46, 50, 52 and 58 degrees)

Putter – Odyssey Toulon Design Le Mans

Ball – Titleist ProV1

Twitter Twaddle

Congratulations to all the 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame inductees with a special tip of the cap to @padraig_h my Captain in 2021. A fitting tribute to an outstanding career and a nice way to cement your legacy in the game. Congrats Paddy – Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald tipping, well, his cap to Pádraig Harrington. The Dubliner will be inducted into the HOF at a ceremony at next year’s US Open in Pinehurst.

TPC Sawgrass, what a gem. Thank you to everyone for the support, we gave it a good run for most of the tournament. Tied 6th and a big step forward. Lots of things to learn and improve but happy to be there. Let’s keep it up – Min Woo Lee on making the most of being the last man to qualify for The Players. His performance moved the Aussie up from 50th to 45th in the updated world rankings.

If I was starting over or raising a junior I don’t think I’d ever teach him to swing it like Scheffler, nor Rahm, nor JT. Everybody’s body is different, grew up swinging different. For all you aspiring juniors and ams, don’t try to copy someone else’s swing or their motions. More important, know how ur swing changes under pressure and ur counters for those changes – PGA Tour Michael Kim (who has one career win, in the 2018 John Deere Classic) giving his tuppence worth on why not to imitate Messrs Scheffler, Rahm and Thomas.

Know the Rules

Q In a match, a player’s ball came to rest beside some steps attached to a boundary fence. The steps interfered with the player’s swing, so they took free relief before playing their next stroke. What is the ruling?

A There is no penalty as, under the definition of boundary object, any steps, bridge or similar construction used for getting over or through a boundary wall or fence are not part of the boundary object.