THE 154TH OPEN

July 17, 2026

Shane Lowry

Mixed Zone

Q. Shane, just obviously a very good, solid round of golf. You must be fairly happy with that.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I played nice. I was in control of myself and my game. I gave myself a lot of chances.

Yeah, I felt -- a couple of times at the end I was out of position. But, yeah, I felt very in control the whole day.

Q. The way the round unfolded, you obviously got off to a nice start. Just your bounce-back ability, I think we're using that word again, especially on the last when you took the bogey on 17 and came back with a terrific iron shot. Is this something you're working on or something that is coming naturally to you again?

SHANE LOWRY: No, it's -- like it's one of those where I think, if you're in a decent frame of mind, you just get on with it, right? That's what I did today, especially -- I feel like, obviously, second shot on 17 wasn't amazing, but it could have ended up better.

Yeah, it was just a bit of -- a couple of errors from there. I said to myself going on for the last three years, just need to commit to a good tee shot down here now and try and put a couple of good swings on it to finish, and I did. It's really nice to do that. So I'm happy.

Q. Is there a focus here to win The Open, or is it to do really well? In other words, to get a result that makes you feel like this has been a good week.

SHANE LOWRY: Like I don't -- why would I come here if I didn't want to win? Yeah, like obviously -- like -- you know, you say a good week would go a long way, but who cares about where I finish in the FedExCup, or when I'm 75 years of age and I'm sitting there, you're not going to say, oh, in 2026, you finished 25th in the FedExCup; well done. So like, I'm here to win the tournament. I'm here to compete at this level, and I'm here to put myself into contention.

I feel like I've done that somewhat. I'm quite a few back, but I feel like I'm in a good position heading into the weekend.

Q. That's the whole point. You know yourself, but 36 holes is only the halfway point. From here on, do you feel in your game that you have that big weekend that you need?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I feel like the way I'm playing, all I need is just a run. If I get my run, I feel like I'll be dangerous this weekend.

Q. (On the low scores today.)

SHANE LOWRY: They're probably from the earlier starters like --

Q. -- Lucas Herbert?

SHANE LOWRY: I know it's funny, he only played 10 or 12 holes. That east wind played a lot yesterday morning, and it makes the course play somewhat gettable. It's still amazing golf, like it is amazing golf.

And then when it's flipped, like it's going to be hard in there for these guys in the afternoon. It's not easy. I'll probably be eating my words, but I can't imagine a 62 out there this afternoon. The golf course is playing a lot different.

Even I felt like for the first few holes the course was playing really nice, and it kind of switched on like 7 for us. Then it played difficult for the rest of the day.

I would imagine Lucas got off to a good start. Then he hit the last few holes, and he did pretty well, so yeah.

Q. Shane, you played really nicely so far. Can I ask how you're feeling going into the weekend, giving yourself a great chance to win a second Open Championship?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I'm happy. I'm very in control of myself and in control of my game. I feel like I'm in a nice place. I feel like I've done a great job the last two days of playing my game. Yeah, I'm pretty happy.

Obviously I'd love to be a few better. We always will be. Yeah, 69, 68 first two rounds, and it's probably only going to get more difficult as the week goes on. So yeah.

Q. You look like you're enjoying yourself out there. You look like it was enjoyable?

SHANE LOWRY: It might look like that (laughter).

Q. You said I'm in control of myself. You said it today a couple of times. What does that mean?

SHANE LOWRY: Just like I'm in control of what I'm doing, where I'm hitting the ball. I feel like I'm making right decisions. I feel like I'm -- you know, just been calculated in what I'm doing out there. Yeah, just been in control of everything around my game and myself at the minute.

I hope it stays there for the next two days because I really do feel like I'm playing really well, and I really do feel like if I get a run of rolling a few putts in in a row, I can do well this weekend, but it remains to be seen.

Q. Albeit a par-70, with two rounds in the 60s just on the fringes of the top 10, you probably would have settled for that at the halfway point?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I hope no one goes too far ahead. Obviously I'm going to have to go out there and shoot a good score tomorrow, but I know it's in me, yeah.

Q. Hopefully the good runs come. But that little run today on 11, 12, and 13, you had to make some good pars there.

SHANE LOWRY: Good saves, yeah, that's what it's all about. It's major championship golf. It's not going to be straightforward. You're going to have challenges out there all week. You're going to have times where you feel like your back's against the wall and you have to make the putts and make the up-and-down from 100 yards with a wedge. I did that a couple times today, which was nice.

Q. Are you comfortable out here?

SHANE LOWRY: I wouldn't say I'm very comfortable because it's Birkdale and there's bunkers everywhere, and there's trouble everywhere.

To be honest, with my game, I felt like this for a lot of this year, and then obviously my results don't show it. Yeah, it's just a strange old game we play, isn't it? The last few months have been probably, you would say, a bit of a speed bump in my career where your career is full of ups and downs. This is obviously on the way down, but hopefully hit straight back up this weekend.