The hoarders among us know you never throw anything away, that there will always be a time when an unwanted item becomes useful again. Shane Lowry, employing an old putter retrieved from his hidden collection and dusted off for use again, brought his season to life with an opening of 64, eight-under par, here on the West Course.
Crisis? What crisis? If the Offalyman had stirred into life with a tied-15th finish in last week’s Spanish Open, where the putter he recently unearthed from a locker in his apartment was reintroduced to tour duty, yesterday’s round – constructed around two weather delays – offered reaffirmation that his woes on the greens have been transformed for the better.
“No, it’s not the Baltray-winning putter. No, not the Dunhill Links putter,” said Lowry, referencing his Irish Open win of 2009 and this course record at Carnoustie late last year. “I just went back to the putter I used here before.
"I've got a little putting mat in my apartment and I've been messing about here and there with putters and pulled this one out, got the cobwebs off. I just happened to pick this one up and it felt good." Instils confidence Lowry's search through his collection of putters, estimated to number a couple of dozen, has reunited him with a blade that instils confidence. The proof of the pudding, so to speak, came with a round of 10 birdies – the most he's ever had in a competitive round on tour – that made a mockery of his 165th position on the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings.
Confidence is an important aspect to any golfer's game, and a trusted putter a critical element in the process. In working with his coach Neil Manchip, he has also slightly altered his pre-shot routine on the greens.
“I take a couple of practice strokes now behind the ball, like I used to. I’m getting a smoother takeaway and that is all I am trying to feel,” he admitted. “I don’t want to jinx myself too much but I feel like I am putting nicely and that runs through your whole game,” added Lowry.
Of course, returning to a favoured course – knowing that the coming weeks bring one big tournament after another into the meat of the season – has brought an extra pep into the step too. Lowry was tied-fourth here in 2011 and was hunting for the title coming down the stretch until hitting a tee-shot on the 17th out-of-bounds in the final round. “I just love playing here, it’s a special place and, in my mind, it is the best golf course we play all year.”
Lowry rose to the challenge. He needed just 25 putts and hit 15 greens in regulation in a round that started with birdies on the opening two holes and then came to life on the back nine, a stretch he covered in 31 strokes.
That back nine took over four hours to complete, with two separate weather interruptions. First siren Lowry was by the 16th green when the first siren sounded. "We were held out on the golf course (under trees) for 45 minutes, which I thought was a bit strange.
“If I had not gone birdie-birdie (on the resumption), I would have been a bit annoyed. We never saw a referee.”
The second stoppage came as he prepared to play the 18th, and he went into the Players Lounge for a delay that would stretch beyond an hour and 40 minutes. His last act on the 18th green was to watch as his 20-footer for birdie burnt the hole and left him with a tap-in par to complete a good day’s work.
“I’ve been waiting to play these big tournaments, because I quite enjoy them. I love the buzz around them, the big crowds, the big golf courses,” said Lowry, who has upped the ante in a big way in recent weeks as he moves into a period of seven tournaments in eight weeks.
One of those, he hopes, will be the US Open. He heads to 36-hole international qualifying at nearby Walton Heath on Monday in a bid to earn his ticket to Pinehurst. But, before that, there is some unfinished business here.
