2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry will draw upon elements of his victory six years ago in an attempt to contend for the championship once again.
Lowry became the Champion Golfer of the Year when he won by six strokes at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland back in 2019.
It is the 38-year-old’s sole Major triumph, and the fact that it was in front of friends and family made it even more important.
With the return of The Open Championship for 2025, he will be looking to make history again with a victory, but it may well be tougher this time around.
How Shane Lowry used amateur experience to help win The Open Championship in 2019
Before his famous Open Championship win in 2019, Lowry won the North of Ireland Championship that was held at Royal Portrush back in his amateur days in 2008.
Despite being a long time ago, the fond memories seemingly helped him in 2019, which could, in turn, improve his chances this year.
Speaking during his winning press conference in 2019, Lowry revealed: “I’ve played amateur events here, so I knew coming up that I liked the place, but I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself.”
Shane had the comfort of a six-shot lead going up the last hole, which perhaps helped him to relax and enjoy the moment a bit more.
“I didn’t really let myself think about [winning] all day until I hit my tee shot on 17. I sometimes struggle to play in front of a home crowd and have done in the past.
“It was just incredible to walk down 18, the crowd was going wild. I saw my family standing behind the green and I welled up a little bit. But I had to catch a hold of myself because I still had to hit a shot.”
That was clearly an advantage heading into 2019, but for Lowry, it seems as though things could be more difficult in 2025.
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Shane Lowry claims the 2025 Open Championship will be tougher
Ahead of the 153rd Open Championship, Lowry reflected on the meaningful win the last time the Open stepped foot outside of England and Scotland and how it may impact him.
He told the press, “When I won here in 2019, it was very special. It was an amazing day for the country and me and my family. Doing something like that is a lifelong dream.”
But the man from Clara intends to utilise his past experiences at Portrush in order to produce more success this week at the 153rd Open.
“There’s a lot of memories, and there’s a lot of thinking back to what I did. What I did was very special; to walk down the 18th hole with a six-shot lead.”
However, Lowry is intent that the previous success does not place him on a pedestal this time around.
“It doesn’t give me any God-given right to do anything special this week. I just need to get my head down on Thursday morning, get after it and see what happens.”
There are definitely some advantageous circumstances that give Shane a better chance than most at an Open Championship held in Portrush.
But even though it has been over half a decade since his famous Open win, Lowry wants to emulate the approach he had that week en route to victory.
“I had been playing pretty solid [going into 2019], really good golf the whole year. Then I came to a place that I knew and I love, and it all clicked.”
The Irishman has endured a similar run of good results in 2025, outside of the Major Championships. In 13 starts on the PGA Tour, Lowry has ended inside the top 20 nine times. This includes two runner-up finishes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Truist Championship.
Lowry opted not to play the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club last week, in order to adequately prepare for the Open test on site.
Despite minimal changes to the course since 2019, Lowry believes the conditions will contrast with those before.
“It is going to play a bit tougher in terms of the firmness.”
“There are a lot of options off tees, but you just have to go with what you feel. I don’t plan to approach the course any differently.”
“I am a better golfer than I was in 2019, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and win by seven this year instead of six. It’s just golf, that’s the way it is.”
It remains to be seen whether he can make history yet again this summer.