Shane Lowry calling on memories of Portrush glory in US Open bid

Lowry is likely to have a new driver in his bag in an attempt to hit the sort of form that earned him the British Open crown 14 months ago

Shane Lowry will be calling on his memories of Portrush glory in Winged Foot this week as he makes the changes that can make him a major winner on American soil.

Lowry is likely to have a new driver in his bag in an attempt to hit the sort of form that earned him the British Open crown 14 months ago.

"You’re only one week away from greatness in this game and that’s what keeps us all going because you know you can be very close to doing something special," admitted the Offaly man.

Lowry has never played Winged Foot but he likes the track and is excited about the challenge.

"US Opens are always hard set-ups and I love a very tough test of golf," he remarked.

"I like playing traditional US Open venues, which this is, so it’ll be good to test myself against the best in the world once again. I’ll be giving it a go."

And due to the Covid 19 pandemic, Lowry will tee it up as the reigning Open champion and will feed off the belief that triumph has instilled in him.

"Winged Foot should be a similar kind of test to last season’s Open Championship," Lowry said.

"Having won that, I know I can beat the best in the world on my day, so I’m excited to get back to teeing it up in the second Major of this truncated season.

"I’ll probably have a new driver in the bag. The driver I’ve been using the last couple of years, I think it’s probably gone a little bit dead.

"I practised with it last week and hopefully it goes all right. I need to get back to driving it well because you need to drive the ball very well the way a US open course is set up."

In regard to making a change, Lowry admits that he took encouragement last week from listening to FedEx Cup winner Dustin Johnson, who is in spectacular form heading to New York.

"He’s been on fire all through the FedEx Cup but hit a dip a little before that," the 33-year-old told Paddy Power News.

"He reckons he was just standing a little too close to the ball when he was driving and it was impacting the rest of his game.

"One small tweak and it can recover your game from what you thought was miles away.

"It’s a funny thing. Small margins make all the difference and all the lads on Tour are always looking for something that can trigger your best form.

"I was second to DJ in the US Open four years ago and that experience helped shape my game since then.

"I’ll be pulling on those memories and of my Open Championship win last year this week".