Shane Lowry - 2019 Champion Golfer of The Year (note first post please for posting guidance)

Mars Bar

2 birdies in the first two holes and tied first. Great start

Trampas

Big par save on 3

big_drive

Great start, looking forward to watching this for the evening

big_drive

Savage flop shot on 5th hole

Mushy

Needed that with Hovland sinking the putts away

standardg60

Putts not dropping today, really deserved a birdie after that tee shot but never gave it a chance

big_drive

It's so frustrating with these putts, all good strokes just shaving edges

BoardsMember

His pace isn't confident, putts missing on low side running out of steam.

Trampas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123290895#Comment_123290895

I think it’s a sign of a player who has no confidence in his putts. Worried about the next one instead of committing to it

BoardsMember

Agreed, that kinda what I was getting at. Or lack of confidence in his pace. That last putt was better pace.

standardg60

Putting has always been his Achilles heel, you never feel confident in him and he probably feels the same.

JT on the other hand you just expect the putts to drop.

dublin49

he just does not get his fair share of 6 to 10 ft putts,seems to be playing well otherwise.

boardise

Shane and Seamus bag about 255,000 bucks each .

Trampas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123291137#Comment_123291137

Just hasn’t got the confidence over the putts and hit back of the hole but he is trying to die them in.

It’s another what if week and he has another good cheque into the bank account

eagle eye

I've been impressed. He's in a very good mental state and not blowing up in any round. He's hitting a lot of great putts that aren't dropping. That happens most weeks for every pro.

If he keeps doing what he's doing he's going to win at least once this year unless he's very unlucky.

coillcam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123291562#Comment_123291562

His temperament has been more even this season and obviously he's been featuring on several weekends. I'm not sure if it's a case of chicken and egg with the results/temperament but he's had a very positive start to the season.

His mid range and lag putting has been great. Hopefully he can keep this up as he won't be far off a win.

The Big Easy

It looked to me from watching that his shortgame let him down on the weekend. He was just off the green on many of the par 5s and he hit a lot of sub standard chips and pitches that put a lot of pressure on his putting.

I've always though his shortgame prowess was over egged, but it certainly wasn't up his usual standard this week.

His game overall is in great shape though and you'd imagine all parts have to click together for a win soon.

REFLINE1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293283#Comment_123293283

Think your bang on, he is clearly a great short game player with great touch/hands around the greens, but facts are he's never been close to leading that stat on the PGA tour. His approach shots on the other hand are where he truly separates himself. His lag putting is also very good, i think he held the record last year for most consecutive rounds without a three putt but he can have awful days inside 6 ft. Good part though is that he is streaky and he gets enough hot putter days to still win, just not at the regularity he'd like. Better to be a below average putter capable of short period of excellent putting than a slightly above average putter who never really gets those hot periods.

slave1

I think those around the green comments are broadcaster/commentator comments and just that, he is no better than most and most are delightful around the green

spacecoyote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123300016#Comment_123300016

Yes, he has actually said it himself that, statistically, it's one of the worst parts of his game, when asked about it in interviews I've seen

Case of his reputation preceding him I guess

Neewollah

I think he is one of the best at getting up and down from some of the more difficult positions, he does have great hands and is able to some things that other players can't. I think why his figures are so poor is his tendancy to miss putts within 10ft. Statistically most chips will end up probably 5 to 10ft away and that is probably the weakest area of his game.

Why commentators always say that about his short game is probably because of a few excellent shots from tough spots that stick in their minds.

big_drive

Up to 12 in world rankings, great stuff

paulos53

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123300175#Comment_123300175

I wonder if he has looked at those stats and put some serious effort into improving his short game.

The PGA tour have a wide range of short game stats. Some of his numbers aren't great but he seems to have had a significant jump in some of the vital areas this year.

He is number 9 in Scrambling compared to 106th last year. Improved from 58% to 67% par saves. That includes all par saves when missing the green in regulation so covers more than the short game.

The Proximity to the Hole (Around the Green) stat covers shots from within 30 yards of the green. He has jumped from 125th in 2024 to 13th this year. He averages 6 foot 4 inches which is 18 inches closer than last year.

Shots Gained Around the Green is another good metric. Up from 114th to 30th.

spacecoyote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123301484#Comment_123301484

Thats great to hear. Hadn't checked up on the recent numbers. But given he consciously spoke about it, and has made that kind of improvement is a great sign of his attitude and approach

coillcam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123301873#Comment_123301873

I can't remember which event but it was this year. He was being interviewed and seemed quite calm while not getting too ahead of him self. There was almost a touch of self-depreciation or hint of doubt. Kind of like he still had something to prove or was waiting for a breakthrough.

He's on a great run of form and I believe he will improve further. I can see him breaking the top 10 this year. The only question is if a win or dare I say a major comes with that.

dublin49

Shane playing well but needs to play 13 and 15 better, Par for both days is losing ground to field, although 15 is a dangerous but still Par on these 2 wont get it done

Neewollah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123348322#Comment_123348322

2 pars again today. Considering how well he's playing that's really what's going to cost him at end of the week

FixdePitchmark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123348322#Comment_123348322

Shane as good as any of these - but his putting just isn't top top level sadly.

dublin49

Played strong golf up to 16th ,hit ropey shot that was lucky to stay dry on 16th and then his driving went on last two ..Again struck out on 13 and 15 which is just not good enough to win.

Scrabbel

Struggling today. Hope he can make a run into the Top 5