As he prepares to head to the famous Pinehurst No 2 course for the first time in a decade, Shane Lowry feels his game is in even better shape than it was when he won the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019.
Just over a fortnight ago, Lowry stood over a 12-foot putt with a chance to make history, becoming the first male player to shoot 61 in a major championship.
Lowry had fired into contention over the previous few hours, ramming in nine birdies over the first 17 holes in a remarkable putting display. Alas, his flawless touch that Saturday deserted him momentarily and his downhill effort trickled by.
Still, that 18 holes placed him in rarefied company, only the fourth player ever to have shot 62 in a major, alongside Brandon Grace, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, who accomplished the feat twice, including the previous Thursday.
Lowry had sounded a bullish note in an interview with Greg Allen on Friday evening. In previous majors, notably the most recent Masters, Lowry's putting had been his weak point amid excellent driving and greens in regulation stats. However, the first two days in Valhalla, the reverse had been true. He said that if his long game came good, he could go very low in the third round. Cue the magic on Saturday.
"It was just one of those days," Lowry tells RTÉ Sport.
"You're seeing everything. You're seeing your lines. You've got everything going. It just happened.
"You need to be patient in this game, I always say that. You need to wait for things to happen. On that day, I hit the ball well and any time I got within 30ft of the hole, I felt like I was going to hole a putt. The hole looked pretty big that day.
"What I would say is the greens were beautiful. They were a perfect pace to hole putts. They weren't ridiculously quick or they weren't too slow."
For Lowry himself, the round was reminiscent of the 63 on the Saturday in Portrush en route to his Open Championship victory. While Valhalla may have placed him in the record books for now, when reflecting on his greatest rounds, Portrush R3 still gets the nod.
"I'd say the 63 in Portrush was probably a little bit better. The 62 in Valhalla was very special because I needed to do it to get back in the tournament.
"It's hard to put them up against each other. Valhalla played probably a little bit easier than Portrush played that week. So, the 63 in Portrush was probably a little bit better.
"That Saturday evening was probably the most special couple of hours I've ever had on a golf course. Playing in the Open in your home country is quite special. But to be going around the back nine on a Saturday afternoon, shooting an unbelievable score.
"And then finishing the way I did, I think my 4-iron to the 16th hole was a shot that... when you visualise shots a lot of times, they don't come off. But when you visualise this one, it was exactly what I'd drawn up. That hole, it's not called 'Calamity' for nothing. When I birdied that and then 17, at that stage I felt like I could birdie every hole, the way I was playing. That was the best couple of hours I've ever had on a golf course."
After a reasonably strong start on Sunday, Lowry's challenge tailed off and he wound up in sixth place, seven shots adrift of eventual winner Schauffele, who broke his major duck with a birdie on the 72nd hole.
The record winning tally of 21-under par attracted plenty of discussion afterwards, with many purists dismayed at the ease of scoring for a major championship.
The USGA's traditional fixation with keeping the winning score as close to par as possible should mean a much more forbidding layout in North Carolina, though there has been some slippage at the US Open in recent years, with Fowler and Schauffele hitting 62 on Thursday in LA Country Club last June.
"I like majors that play difficult," says Lowry. "Valhalla was obviously a very long golf course but we got a lot of rain and it played very soft. Any time you give the best players in the world a soft golf course with perfect greens, they're going to shoot good scores. You can't really do anything about that.
"I think Pinehurst will be different. I'm sure the USGA will set it up very difficult. If the ladies US Open is anything to go by last week, I'm sure they're going to make it quite difficult for us next week.
"I missed the cut by a shot the last time (in 2014) but I don't remember much else, to be honest. I remember it being very tough around the greens and your iron play needed to be spot on. But I feel like I'm a different player now than I was back then, so I'm quite excited about it.
"I haven't been there since 2014. I remember really struggling on the grass around the greens, the grain. But since then, I've moved to Florida and I play on that grass week in, week out. I imagine it won't cause me as much trouble as it did back then.
"I know the golf course will need good iron play, straight driving and you need to be decent around the greens. I think if I go there with my game in shape, I feel like I can do something."
I watched the second half in my hotel room on my own, with my Offaly jersey on, sitting on the bed. Well, I wasn't sitting there much, I was jumping around the place like an eejit.
After a so-so year in 2023, Lowry earned his third PGA Tour win at the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans in April, though he was inclined to heap much of the credit on his playing partner, Mr McIlroy. It was his first win since triumphing at Wentworth in the BMW Championship in the autumn of 2022.
"I don't know whether it's the golfer coming out in me, I feel like the glass is always half full in me. I feel like I'm a better player now than I was in 2019. There's parts of my game that are definitely better. There's parts that can always be improved on.
"The form I'm in, I played okay in Canada. I didn't play amazing. I played lovely in Valhalla. I feel like I've been playing okay.
"It is just an overall improvement as the years go on. I think I've gotten more mature and my game's just improved. Being over here and playing in these tournaments, you've no choice but to improve.
"I drive the ball pretty good. My mid-to-long iron play is probably my strength. Which I think is the reason I like the tougher tournaments and the big tournaments."
Proud of these lads yesterday and great to have them back at the Old Warehouse Tullamore to celebrate today. It's been a few years in the making and I hope ye enjoy every minute of it @Offaly_GAA 💚🤍💛 pic.twitter.com/prJOGK7I3U
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) June 2, 2024
With the Open returning to Portrush next year, Lowry was speaking to the media to promote the ticket ballot for next year's tournament, which is open for applications in the month of July.
The 2019 event was the first in Portrush since 1951 and its return to the Antrim links so soon indicates it has now become a fully-fledged fixture on the Open rota. The prospect of the Open Championship crossing the border and being staged at Portmarnock has been floated.
"I know the R&A have had the amateur championship there in the past and I've heard it's something they're looking at," says Lowry.
"It would be great to see at some stage. If it happens in my career, it'll be great. But we'll have to wait and see the people at the top, what decisions they make. I'm sure there's a lot more that goes into it than just saying 'we'll have it there'. There's a lot of infrastructure (factors) and what needs to happen with the golf course."
Needless to say, the assembled media were itching to ask Lowry about another stick and ball game this week. Offaly has been in the grip of an orgy of celebration since their Under-20s claimed the All-Ireland championship on Saturday evening.
Lowry, a leading benefactor of Offaly GAA for several years now, had, cleverly, played badly on his first two days in Canada so as to finish his third round in time to watch the hurling final live on Saturday.
"I watched it, it's like I timed it. It's like I played bad on purpose the first two days. I got off the golf course (on Saturday) at 10 past two and the match started at a quarter past.
"I got straight in the car and I watched the first half on my phone. And I watched the second half in my hotel room on my own, with my Offaly jersey on, sitting on the bed. Well, I wasn't sitting there much, I was jumping around the place like an eejit.
"I was very proud. Very homesick that day. And the following day. The team went back to Tullamore the following day and they were in my bar. All my friends were there, my mother and father were there and you were getting pictures from home.
"It's great for Offaly hurling, it's great for those young lads. Great for Michael Duignan, Leo O'Connor, all the lads that put the effort in. Very proud of what they've done.
"Obviously, we still have a long way to go to catch the big teams. I think we showed that day that we're certainly on the way. Long way to go but great day for Offaly."
Had he considered flying back if he missed the cut the following day?
"I knew there was a flight that night! But I don't know whether I would have done it or not. I don't know whether I would have pulled the trigger. There was a direct flight from Dublin to Toronto. But I'm not sure I would have pulled the trigger.
"We've got a big week this week and US Open next week. Possibly but I'm not sure."
