THE 154TH OPEN

July 16, 2026

Shane Lowry

Mixed Zone

Q. Shane, a day which was like the course threw some punches at you. You responded really well. At the end of the day, the number 69 is a pretty good number. How do you feel?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, like results, score-wise, I'm pretty happy with that. I think the -- you know, the wind switch in the afternoon made the course play a little more difficult. So it was important I didn't get caught leaderboard watching and see what the leader guys were doing.

I feel like hopefully we're going to get that nice easterly wind that they had tomorrow morning.

Yeah, I felt like it was tricky. I felt like I was very in control of my game myself. 69 is a pretty decent start.

Q. You were sailing along really. You responded when you had bogeys, and when you came to 14, and clearly the 6 you took there was like a sucker punch. Then you bogeyed obviously the following hole to make it three bogeys in a row. But the response, mentally strong to birdie the next two holes, that must be so satisfying, and to finish up at the last.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it was very satisfying, the finish I had. Yeah, it was nice. I felt like I did a great job of staying in control of myself and my game and my thoughts. Yeah, I'm pretty happy and proud of myself the way I finished there.

Q. Being proud of yourself is something that you don't often have to say, but at the moment as you battle your way back to the form that we know you're capable of, how important is that feeling in your head that you have?

SHANE LOWRY: Honestly, I think the golf is there. I just needed a way for it to come out. I feel like I did a good job of just staying in my own lane today, trying to pick the spots I want to hit it off the tee and trying to pick the spots I want to hit it into the green and work from there.

Obviously what happened on 13, 14, 15 is -- yeah, it's like a sucker punch, but it's not -- it's how you respond and stuff like that is what makes a tournament. I really, really feel like I played really well today, and I feel like I could have shot a great score, but I think 1-under is still pretty good.

Q. Through the year, you've said that things just aren't going your way, and they didn't go your way out there today at times. From here on, and not even just this week, can you just find a platform based on what you've learned about yourself the past few months?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, we're here playing The Open Championship in great weather, perfect golf course. There's nowhere else you'd rather be.

Obviously there are times it gets tough out there. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Yeah, I think when you're out there and it does get tough, I think you just need to dig in and grind away at it. Dermot did a great job today, especially after what happened op 14, of keeping me kind of going and keeping me focused on the job at hand really, which is the next shot.

Like I said, I'm pretty satisfied with the finish. Obviously I think it could have been a better score, but I'm pretty satisfied with that finish.

Q. Are you finding the actual conditions here in Birkdale, hard, bouncy, you do have to be mentally strong to take some of those bad bounces?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I pity the guys that have never played links golf coming here. You're hitting 4-irons off tees, and they're going over 300 yards. Sometimes it's hard to mentally and visually see that.

I felt like I did a good job today of taking the bunkers out of play where I felt like I needed to, and I took the golf course on a little bit in response, so yeah.

Q. Can I ask you about the greens. There's quite a number of short putts being missed right through the field. How difficult are they?

SHANE LOWRY: With the poa annua greens with the weather, they've obviously had to try and keep them as soft as they could with how burnt out it's getting. There are certain greens that are worse than others, but yeah, they are bumpy there this afternoon.

Q. You have a lot of experience, Shane, at Opens, and obviously no one's running away with this. It's important to hang in there the first day, isn't it?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's easy -- you can always lose it on a Thursday. You're not going to win it on a Thursday. That goes without saying.

Yeah, it's important to go out there and just try and shoot the best score you can. You want to be up there on the weekend. I think I did a good job today. Hopefully I can go out and play similar golf tomorrow and shoot a few better.