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Shane Lowry 'rejuvenated' heading into Open at Royal Portrush
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Shane Lowry 'rejuvenated' heading into Open at Royal Portrush

Shane Lowry is feeling confident about his chances as he returns to the scene of his greatest triumph for the Open Championship.

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Lowry produced a performance for the ages to be the toast of the island of Ireland when golf’s oldest tournament was held at Royal Portrush for just the second time in 2019, 68 years after its first visit to Northern Ireland in 1951.

While a second Major Championship victory has so far eluded him since then, he feels he is a better golfer now than he was at the time of his memorable six-shot victory over the Dunluce Links.

“What I did was very special, and to walk down the 18th hole with a six-shot lead, I'm probably never going to do that again so I'm not going to try and replicate that this week," he said.

“I'm just going to go out and try and play the tournament as well as I can this week.

“I've prepared as well as I can for this tournament. I know I have. Then it's just up to me to stay out of my own way on Thursday morning and go and get after it and see what happens.”

Such was the magnitude of his victory in 2019 in front of a jubilant home crowd, a mural was unveiled last summer to commemorate his success.

Speaking at his pre-tournament press conference on Monday, he joked that he was glad his drive to the course this week is from the other direction, meaning he doesn’t have to see his own face every morning.

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With eight worldwide top 20 finishes to his name so far this season, including two runner-up finishes, there is every reason for his hopes of a second Claret Jug success this week despite missing the cut in his last two Major starts.

“I kind of pride myself on not missing cuts, especially in the big events," said Lowry, who finished sixth last year at Royal Troon.

"I feel like I can always get myself there or thereabouts in the big events and I have done over the last number of years.

“But I've been consistently quite good this year. I've given myself a couple of chances to win, which I'm very disappointed that I didn't, but we've got a few months left to kind of redeem myself and get a win on the board."

Lowry opted to skip last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, where he has played just once since 2016, instead playing golf over the last fortnight in his home country.

A victory in County Antrim this week would see him become just the 14th player to win The Open multiple times on the same course.

While little has changed to the course since his win in 2019, he is expecting a stern challenge – perhaps tougher than what the field faced then.

“I think the golf course is perfect right now,” he said after a practice round. “I think it's ready for a great week of golf.

“Trying to judge the scoring will be a little bit difficult, and it's going to play quite tough.

“I think it's a little bit firmer than it was, but we're going to have a little bit of rain over the next few days.

“I don't know if that rain will have a massive effect on the course, depending on how heavy it is. I don't really plan to approach the course any differently.”

“I forgot how well-bunkered the course is. There's a lot of options off tees. You just have to go with what you feel. You're going to see a lot of people hitting different clubs off different tees, playing the golf course differently.”

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