Shane Lowry - 2019 Champion Golfer of The Year (note first post please for posting guidance)

The Big Easy

Idk, off the top of my head, second in HK and a top ten in a WGC.

I think most people expect a bit of a let down after a lifetime goal is achieved. He's entitled to enjoy it and then reassess his goals for the second half of his career.

Throw in a worldwide pandemic with a young family and all that entails.

I really don't know what people expect sometimes.

Edit: he hasn't even got to defend his Open Championship yet and this is the first full Players since his win.

fullstop

2 is correct, in 27 tournaments, and that’s fine if he’s happy to just plod away for the next 5 few years but people are taking about him making Ryder Cup team and the likes.

Winning The Open put him in a great position to push on due to his ranking and getting into all the big events, but when those ranking points go in July he’ll slip well outside the top 50 unless he does something in the meantime. Let’s hope this is the week he starts to turn it around.

The Big Easy

Get in the house at -11 and forget the top ten, what about a win!

fullstop

The Big Easy wrote: »

Get in the house at -11 and forget the top ten, what about a win!

With the way the leaders are ****ting the bed who knows

The Big Easy

fullstop wrote: »

With the way the leaders are ****ting the bed who knows

He's got another one now, -4 through 10, so becoming more possible!

Bill Ponderosa

Great round going on, should at least get a back door top 10

The Big Easy

Bill Ponderosa wrote: »

Great round going on, should at least get a back door top 10

Not sure where this back door top 10 nonsense has come from, it's up there with bounce-back-ability and many other trite Americanisms.

If there is such a thing, I think it only applies to McIlroy

bamayang

boardise wrote: »

'Back door' seems to make some sense doesn't it ?

Means you don't play yourself into it -but you get in because higher placed players drop down below you in the final stages so you can get hoisted from 15/16th into the top ten tier.

He’s -4 for the day...

youcancallmeal

If he could get one more birdie to finish on -10 he'd have a good chance at a playoff. Although it could easily go the other way with some bogies

Mushy

Good chance there not taken. Still a good week though

Golfhead65

He is not playing the par 5s well this week

vapor trails

I'm starting to think Shane Lowry is our Irish replica of Angel Cabrera (Minus the wife beating). In and out form-wise but has the credentials to mix it on the big day too.

bamayang

Frustrating how little they have down of him

The Big Easy

Well done Shane, great week to put the show back in the road! Close to half a million dollars and a boatload of points to boot!

Only takes a couple of more good weeks and he'll be well on his way to Whistling Straits.

Sure throw in another major along the way for the craic too Shane

Golfhead65

Shane will pick up close to $470.000 for his week's work, not bad for someone out of form

Bill Ponderosa

Good week for him and brings the Ryder cup back as a possibility, need to see more of him over the coming months.

fullstop

Golfhead65 wrote: »

Shane will pick up close to $470.000 for his week's work, not bad for someone out of form

Love the passive aggression dripping off this would you say he was in form coming into this week?

TheRiverman

Well done Shane, hope this is the start of many more great weeks.

h2005

Where will that put him in the Ryder cup standings?

gypsy79

h2005 wrote: »

Where will that put him in the Ryder cup standings?

He is long way outside. Won’t be putting him near the team

Will need repeat many time

h2005

gypsy79 wrote: »

He is long way outside. Won’t be putting him near the team

Will need repeat many time

Ya I think he’s 35th in the European standings. That should give him a good rally of points though

kmart6

Puts him 14th in the World points for Europe.

https://twitter.com/VC606/status/1371244915234115594?s=19

gypsy79

gypsy79 wrote: »

He is long way outside. Won’t be putting him near the team

Will need repeat many time

5 places outside the Team on the World Points List after yesterday.

abff

h2005 wrote: »

Where will that put him in the Ryder cup standings?

It helps, but is nowhere near enough to put him in contention for automatic qualification.

To put it into context, he earned 10.8 world ranking points for finishing 8th yesterday. For Ryder Cup qualification, a weighting factor of 1.5 applies to events between January and mid May 2021, giving him 16.2 points on the World Rankings list. This brings his total up to 82.29 points.

Victor Perez, who is currently in the last qualifying place, has 153.17 points.

CSWS101

The big thing is he is at least showing some form on a tough course with the best field in the world. If he can keep it up he will definitely be a captain's pick

The Big Easy

The meat of Ryder Cup qualification has only just started, why everyone wants to say what can and can't be done so far out idk.

He has all the majors at double points, the Matchplay in a couple of weeks. The PGA at Wentworth which is a course that suits his eye. He has so many opportunities to make the team.

Obviously he has to play well and I personally believe he'll comfortably make the team.

As a recent major winner he's worthy of a Captain's pick if within 5 places of the automatic qualification. He's currently the most recent European major winner. Winning a major is a big deal but especially as a European, there was a time when there was only one or two guys who had them on the team.

I know most of us on here can struggle to look at the Irish guys objectively and every MC is the end of the world.

Anyway I'm biased towards Shane and if he never won another tournament he's had a career far better than most. I do believe however that he will win more tournaments for sure, hopefully another major. I know the Ryder Cup is a massive target for him, but if he just keeps his head down and doesn't think about it too much, he'll be on the plane.

dublin49

Thomas was 14 under for the par 5s and Shane was 5 under for the 4 rounds .

fullstop

The Big Easy wrote: »

As a recent major winner he's worthy of a Captain's pick if within 5 places of the automatic qualification. He's currently the most recent European major winner. Winning a major is a big deal but especially as a European, there was a time when there was only one or two guys who had them on the team.

I agree with a lot of your post, but I just don’t see how you can justify picking someone based on a major they won 2 years ago. It just doesn’t work like that.

If he continues to show form over the next few months, then hopefully he’ll get a pick if he doesn’t qualify automatically, but Padraig can’t and won’t be swayed by one or two decent performances.

The Big Easy

fullstop wrote: »

I agree with a lot of your post, but I just don’t see how you can justify picking someone based on a major they won 2 years ago. It just doesn’t work like that.

If he continues to show form over the next few months, then hopefully he’ll get a pick if he doesn’t qualify automatically, but Padraig can’t and won’t be swayed by one or two decent performances.

My point is if he's within 5 places of the team, he'll be relatively in form and then the major gives him possibly something over the other guys provided the other four just outside the places aren't Rose, Garcia, Stenson and McDowell which it could be! :P

Anyway a lot of water to pass below the bridge between now and September. And we're all mostly on the same page of wanting to see him play well and make the team comfortably by winning along the way.

Just looking through his results there and he hasn't played in Europe since the PGA in October. It's not normal times and that makes it even harder for the big name Europeans at the moment (as regards the European points list).

abff

The Big Easy wrote: »

Just looking through his results there and he hasn't played in Europe since the PGA in October. It's not normal times and that makes it even harder for the big name Europeans at the moment (as regards the European points list).

It makes performance in the Majors and WGCs even more crucial in terms of potential qualification.

charlieIRL

I'd take Lowry over McIlroy if i had to pick at this moment in time!!

BoardsMember

abff wrote: »

It makes performance in the Majors and WGCs even more crucial in terms of potential qualification.

Presuming how much he wants to play in the Ryder Cup, it would be a pretty impressive achievement if he were to qualify via the route he has set himself, and considering the starting position pre The Players. Fingers crossed, his short game in Ryder Cup would be fun to watch.

Trampas

The Big Easy wrote: »

My point is if he's within 5 places of the team, he'll be relatively in form and then the major gives him possibly something over the other guys provided the other four just outside the places aren't Rose, Garcia, Stenson and McDowell which it could be! :P

Anyway a lot of water to pass below the bridge between now and September. And we're all mostly on the same page of wanting to see him play well and make the team comfortably by winning along the way.

Just looking through his results there and he hasn't played in Europe since the PGA in October. It's not normal times and that makes it even harder for the big name Europeans at the moment (as regards the European points list).

He played in Middle East swing at start of year. Didn’t do much but teed it up

The Big Easy

Was going to put the continental Europe in brackets, but it was the UK, so didn't bother. My point was the continent of Europe and that is down to Covid, he also skipped the closing big money events of the R2D.

Not sure what his schedule is like for this year, but I guess subject to change like everyone else. He most likely won't play in Europe before the Irish Open? Makes the European points list probably a bit of a non-runner.

Although all the majors and WGCs count towards it alongside the Irish Open, he'll probably the Scottish Open as well before the Open. Then the PGA too, so he could shoot up that ranking as well. The main thing is he's got himself back in a position where another big week in a big tournament puts him bang there.

He's playing Augusta today and tomorrow with Westwood getting a couple of practice rounds in early.

The Big Easy

I saw that, nice isn't it, I'd settle for a round down the road :P

Fair play to him, be good practice, he's playing the Honda this week as well. With that, the Matchplay and Augusta all in the next few weeks, things could look very differently very quickly.

SeeMoreBut

The Big Easy wrote: »

Was going to put the continental Europe in brackets, but it was the UK, so didn't bother. My point was the continent of Europe and that is down to Covid, he also skipped the closing big money events of the R2D.

Not sure what his schedule is like for this year, but I guess subject to change like everyone else. He most likely won't play in Europe before the Irish Open? Makes the European points list probably a bit of a non-runner.

Although all the majors and WGCs count towards it alongside the Irish Open, he'll probably the Scottish Open as well before the Open. Then the PGA too, so he could shoot up that ranking as well. The main thing is he's got himself back in a position where another big week in a big tournament puts him bang there.

European tour is non existed for high world ranking pro's this year. 1.5 million funds bar a handful. WGC and Majors will get him European points but fk all after that bar around Open.

fullstop

BoardsMember wrote: »

Fingers crossed, his short game in Ryder Cup would be fun to watch.

His pitching and chipping would be, but he’d want to get the putting sorted, his stats are awful. That seems to be the missing piece of the puzzle for him really.

vapor trails

fullstop wrote: »

His pitching and chipping would be, but he’d want to get the putting sorted, his stats are awful. That seems to be the missing piece of the puzzle for him really.

I know whistling straits has the potential to be set up hard but in typical form, the Americans will have it set up like a bowling alley with the side rails up. Not much place for good chipping in that format.

First Up

If he qualifies he is in and good luck to him.

If he doesn't qualify, then the make-up of the rest of the team will matter. Harrington will want experience so if a few other rookies qualify he is less likely to pick another.

Hovland, Perez and Willett are currently in the side and Weisberger and McIntyre are not far off. That's a lot of rookies.

tobsey

First Up wrote: »

If he qualifies he is in and good luck to him.

If he doesn't qualify, then the make-up of the rest of the team will matter. Harrington will want experience so if a few other rookies qualify he is less likely to pick another.

Hovland, Perez and Willett are currently in the side and Weisberger and McIntyre are not far off. That's a lot of rookies.

Willett isn’t a rookie but he’d be better off forgetting his first appearance altogether!

Lowry in a featured group this week with Mickleson and Zach Johnson so we should see plenty of him for first two days.

Lip Out

How is Willet on there? Hopefully that changes closer to the time.

I wouldn't pick him for the Pierce Purcell.

eagle eye

I couldn't care less about the Ryder Cup, I'd be tempted to shout for the USA if Shane doesn't make it. I won't watch either way tbh.
I do hope Shane gets a little more consistent though, love to see him get it together for the majors.
I think the crowds helped him last weekend.

dublin49

eagle eye wrote: »

I couldn't care less about the Ryder Cup, I'd be tempted to shout for the USA if Shane doesn't make it. I won't watch either way tbh.
I do hope Shane gets a little more consistent though, love to see him get it together for the majors.
I think the crowds helped him last weekend.

I am a big fan of Shanes but cannot understand how he regularly under performs on par 5's.Harrington was the same at times in his career and there was one masters where if he had got his fair share he would have won or been very close,thats my memory of it anyway.

First Up

tobsey wrote:

Willett isn’t a rookie but he’d be better off forgetting his first appearance altogether!

Maybe that's why I forgot!

rooney30

eagle eye wrote: »

I couldn't care less about the Ryder Cup, I'd be tempted to shout for the USA if Shane doesn't make it. I won't watch either way tbh.
I do hope Shane gets a little more consistent though, love to see him get it together for the majors.
I think the crowds helped him last weekend.

Thought all golf fans like Ryder cup , might not be top of everyone’s list of events but iv yet to meet a golf fan refuses to watch it . Each to their own though

BoardsMember

rooney30 wrote: »

Thought all golf fans like Ryder cup , might not be top of everyone’s list of events but iv yet to meet a golf fan refuses to watch it . Each to their own though

Same. I love it. Always take a day off and meet mates on the Friday for a few drinks. Probably my number 1 tv sporting event.

Bill Ponderosa

Would agree with that, Ryder cup is the tournament I most look forward to its a fantastic watch.

Big chance for Shane this weekend with lots of the top players not playing.

eagle eye

I used to like it back when most Europeans played in their own tour.
Now it's a bunch of guys living in the US playing on the PGA tour. It means nothing to me anymore.

Bill Ponderosa

eagle eye wrote: »

I used to like it back when most Europeans played in their own tour.
Now it's a bunch of guys living in the US playing on the PGA tour. It means nothing to me anymore.

Does the same apply when you're watching the football World Cup?