HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 20, 2026

Shane Lowry

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: I'm delighted to welcome Shane Lowry back to the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Shane, it's your 10th appearance here in Dubai to start the year, and obviously we missed you the last couple of years. Haven't been here since 2023. But what have you loved about coming to Dubai and being here and seeing the tournament grow over those years?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I mean, Dubai has always been a great place to come and play; the end of the year, it's always nice to get here.

I missed starting here the last couple of years but I just felt like I wanted to try and get a head start over on the PGA TOUR. But the way the schedule is now over there, I feel like I can come play here comfortably and go back there and not miss out too much on FedExCup points.

It's nice to come over here. I feel like it's a really nice start to the year, especially with the two events back-to-back, and then even like I haven't been here in three years. To see this event grow, and even the build-out around the course, the magnitude of the event and the buzz around the place from even Monday yesterday is pretty cool.

Q. Really nice playing last week. You said it might take a day or two to get over. How did you get over it?

SHANE LOWRY: I'm okay now. It did -- I'll be honest, like I went and packed up my stuff at the hotel, and I got in my car and I came over to the hotel for this tournament. I felt like sitting in my room for the evening on Sunday evening but I went and met some friends for dinner.

Kind of tried to have as good a time as I could, but you kind of go to bed that night and you wake up thinking, what if, you know, what could I have done differently. Even yesterday was a bit of a slow day for me. I came out here and hit some balls and played nine holes.

Yeah, just trying to get it out of my system really. But I feel good today. I think speaking to people closest to me over the last day or so, like you can only take positives from it, really. I played great last week, haven't played in a while. First tournament of the year. It's nice to get the year off to a great start and hopefully it's a sign of things to come for the rest of the year.

Q. A couple years ago in Abu Dhabi in a press conference you spoke to us about layers being sidetracked with the figures bandied about, and you predicted this tournament would have a sustainable future once things settled down. Is this an event that's an example of what the DP World Tour is all about?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I think what the DP World Tour is all about is a lot of history. Obviously this event is not like a hundred years old but there's a lot of history to it. Since 1989, you look at the winners, it's one of the great places to come.

The trophy is iconic, and you want to put your name on that trophy. I think that's what the DP World Tour is about. It's a lot about history and a lot about great events around the world. I think this is certainly one of the great events on any tour. That we play.

Like it is one of the events that you would love to have on your mantelpiece.

Q. Do you feel a few years on, players are no longer sidetracked by those figures that were being bandied about? Have things settled down?

SHANE LOWRY: To be honest, like, I feel like -- yeah, I feel like people outside of the game get sidetracked more with the figures than people inside the game.

Like I don't -- to be honest, I'll be sitting here, I have no idea what first prize is, you know what I mean. I have no idea what the prize fund is. It's like, it's all about coming here and trying to win a great event.

I think I'm fortunate that I play the best events in the world, and all the best events in the world. I can play whatever one of them I want. I'm in them all this year. But I feel like I can pick a schedule I want, pick tournaments I want to play in and tournaments I think I can win and go about my business that way, so yeah.

Q. How will you center yourself, and will you speak about the mental part of the game, how do you get back and hit your best slots? Obviously a player like you can hit any shot imaginable.

SHANE LOWRY: Like get back this week, say? I think you can't be stupid and say, Oh, let's just forget about last week and move on. I think you have to kind of look at what you learned from it.

Like I've been on tour a long time now, and I feel like you're always learning week-to-week, day-to-day, and like last week is no different. The great thing about golf is like even if I won last week, you're still here as another player this week, and you're still here teeing it up on Thursday and you're wanting to play well. No matter what went behind you, it doesn't change anything going forward.

So yeah, I think just a lot of open and honest conversations with my coaches, my team and myself and my caddie, what we did wrong, what can we do better. You know, there certainly is a few things. It wasn't just the last hole last week. There was a few instances during the week. Like I probably had a few too many 3-putts last week. I had a few, you know, times where I probably dropped silly shots.

So it wasn't just the last hole last week that let me down. It was a few things along the way. But I felt like I played some great golf, and I think you need to look at that and look at the positives and bring them forward.

Q. Interested in your take on Brooks coming back to the PGA TOUR. Do you think that's a good thing? And also interested how much of a topic has it been amongst you guys last week and this week talking about what's going on.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, like I said, I got asked about it last week. I said, and my stance doesn't change. Like, I honestly -- not that I don't care but it's like I don't really -- I said last week, I spent two years on the PAC -- or a year on the PAC on the PGA TOUR. They asked me to go on it a few years ago, and you spend a year in everyone's business, worrying about what's going on, who is going where. Like things like finding out like players are going to LIV, and having a little conversation with them about them, like, why are you going or why wouldn't you stay or something like that.

I feel like it kind of was a bit -- it was a bit of a miserable year to be honest, where, you know, you stopped worrying about yourself.

I sort of honestly made a real conscious decision, I'm not just saying this, like, I'm getting on in my career. I've not got like many -- I hopefully have a few years at the top level left but I really need to worry about myself and worry about what I'm doing.

Like I know Brooks really well. I met him last weekend. We're members of the same golf courses in Florida. I know his caddie really well.

I think it's good for him that he wanted to get off LIV, and he got back really quickly. Like I think it's good for the TOUR, the PGA TOUR, as in Brooks is going to play a lot of the smaller events. So that's going to add to those.

So, yeah, like, not that -- I don't say I don't care because that's a headline. But like I don't really mind about any of them. It doesn't bother me. Like I said earlier, I'm lucky that I'm able to play any tournament I want in the world. And yeah, I'm going to do that and try and play as well as I can.

Q. Rory was saying last week that you're both at the stage of your careers where you savour the big moments a lot more, and perhaps chasing them more, but was last week also an example of the fact that you're not going to cherry-pick and every week is still big for you?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah. No, no, like don't get me wrong. If I did that at the Masters, it would take me a lot more than a day to get over it.

But you know, it's clear that it's been a while since I've won a tournament. So to get a win at any tournament on either of the tours I play would be really nice.

Like last week hurt. Did it hurt as much as like a really big event, a major or something? No, absolutely not. I still want to win. I still tee it up every week wanting to win. And that's what's hard about this game, isn't it. There's plenty of players that played last week that are over on the range now trying to find their game, but they didn't feel as bad as I did leaving Dubai Creek Sunday evening.

So that's the funny thing about golf. I've probably played close to 400 tournaments in my career, and I've only won seven. You lose a lot more than you win. So you get used to losing (laughs) as a professional golfer.

Yes, there's certain weeks where you finish fifth and you're happy, or third and you're happy, but more often than not, you leave a tournament on the Sunday evening and you're not happy with yourself.

You get used to it and you learn to deal with it and move on and look at the future.

Q. Just one on the Ryder Cup, the next one. I just wonder whether there's been any sort of effort to persuade Luke in his decision or from you guys? Or whatever happens, do you think there's a template there now for whoever comes in to do a good job?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, I think it's Luke's if he wants it. Does he want it or not? I'm not sure. It's a big undertaking for him, and he's obviously been very successful. But you know, obviously there's a huge carrot dangling there to go three in a row and be the only person to do that, or he will be the only person ever to do that, yeah.

I think, yeah, but that's up to him. He's here this week. I'm sure he'll have conversations about it this week. Like is there a template there? Probably yes. But I think the last two Ryder Cups and the continuity of it all was amazing, and it obviously will be good to have that for Adare Manor.

But it is his decision. It is a big undertaking for him, and it's also a big undertaking for his family because he will be travelling a lot more. He'll be in Ireland a lot obviously getting ready for it. When you're doing a home Ryder Cup, there's a lot more planning with you and your wife and stuff. Yeah, I'd certainly love to see him as a captain.

BRIONY CARLYON: Shane, we wish you all the best this week.