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

AGC

sydneybound wrote: »

Christ I was think that too when watching on thurs/fri thinking they would pick up for the weekend but they never did.

Piss poor turnout to be honest. The welsh are poor sport supporters if it isn't their international rugby team, they get terrible crowds for regional club games.

I was at this event a couple of years ago on the Sunday and the crowds were very good but watching back they looked so sparse.

It looked the same yesterday, if you saw an overhead shot you would see that it is decent crowds, the whole place is so open.

soundsham

Doing the biz again so far
Who is he playing with ?

vienne86

soundsham wrote: »

Doing the biz again so far
Who is he playing with ?

Thought he was playing with Brian O'Driscoll, but I might be wrong.

pistol_75

vienne86 wrote: »

Thought he was playing with Brian O'Driscoll, but I might be wrong.

Think he only played in a practice round with him. Playing with one of the McManus I think.

Ormus

Gerry McManus

charlieIRL

pistol_75 wrote: »

Think he only played in a practice round with him. Playing with one of the McManus I think.

Yupp Gerry McManus, currently -11 in Pro AM.

Slicemeister

Did anyone see J Ruperts second to a par 4 today with a wood? Blocked it straight low right into a gorse bush. Fair enough, I can easily do that myself, but his perplexed look afterwards was class! A real Westwood moment after he's missed one of those putts...." how the hell did that happen to me?".

Even the auld fellas are watching too much Sky

big_drive

Lowry's putter was cold enough today. will be disappointed with that final bogey

abff

Another good finish today, although he will be disappointed not to have birdied the 18th, particularly after being one of very few to birdie the 17th today. Moves him up to 12th in the Race to Dubai and I think it moves him up to 53rd in the World rankings, just marginally behind Mikko Ilonen in 52nd.

PARlance

Yip looks like he's up to 53rd.

Big year ahead of him next year, I'd be very keen to see what he does in terms of his schedule, and in particular, how much he plans to play in the US.
I would be inclined to say he should play the least amount possible over there, limiting it to short bursts before the Majors (if applicable).

First Up

I think he is now ready to look at moving into the elite level but it is not an incremental progression. He has shown he has the talent and the temperament at a certain level but he has yet to be tested in real pressure situations against the best.
I'm happy to see he is looking increasingly serious - especially off the course. I know it is a crude indicator but a reduction of another 3-4 dress sizes would be a great start.

abff

First Up wrote: »

I think he is now ready to look at moving into the elite level but it is not an incremental progression. He has shown he has the talent and the temperament at a certain level but he has yet to be tested in real pressure situations against the best.
I'm happy to see he is looking increasingly serious - especially off the course. I know it is a crude indicator but a reduction of another 3-4 dress sizes would be a great start.

I think 3-4 is a bit extreme, but maybe 1-2 might be helpful. But would it change the dynamic of his swing and would the pressure of getting down to that weight affect the way that he approaches the game?

Dealerz

First Up wrote: »

I know it is a crude indicator but a reduction of another 3-4 dress sizes would be a great start.

Today's modern golf clubs don't know he's needs to reduce a dress size.

First Up

abff wrote: »

I think 3-4 is a bit extreme, but maybe 1-2 might be helpful. But would it change the dynamic of his swing and would the pressure of getting down to that weight affect the way that he approaches the game?

I see a slimmer Shane being a consequence of a more disciplined approach rather than an end in itself. He has enough talent and seems to have enough of the right temprament. He has impressed me this year but it's my guess that if we are to see him at the next level, he isn't going to have the body shape he has today.

GreeBo

Dealerz wrote: »

Today's modern golf clubs don't know he's needs to reduce a dress size.

Rory lost a lot of inches and it doesn't seem to be causing him any problems.

Dealerz

GreeBo wrote: »

Rory lost a lot of inches and it doesn't seem to be causing him any problems.

That's exactly my point, why state he needs to drop a dress size to be a better golfer, once he's swinging well, who cares.

PARlance

GreeBo wrote: »

Rory lost a lot of inches and it doesn't seem to be causing him any problems.

How exactly is Rory or his weight relevant to this?

I don't know anyone who would claim that Rory was carrying a lot of extra weight at any time since turning pro. If anything he has bulked up and probably gained a few inches.

He carried extra weight during his teenage years but he was still dominating the amateur world.

So alluding to the fact that Rory losing inches has somewhat improved his game is way off the mark. And comparing it to Shane likewise.

Patrick Reed was arguable the US's best players at the Ryder Cup, had a fantastic 2014, and is a similar build to Shane. He's playing at a level above Shane. It certainly isn't nessecary to be slim to win or slim to move up to another level for Shane.

And any additional weight being carried is not the main issue, as First Up (who brought up this) points out that it would/could probably be as a result of a more focused Shane. Something which Shane has seemed to address as the year has gone on.

Focus is the key for Shane.

vienne86

I think it just goes against the grain to see any sportsperson overweight, but if Shane is playing well and is fit, I am happy enough to watch him whatever his weight.

GreeBo

Dealerz wrote: »

That's exactly my point, why state he needs to drop a dress size to be a better golfer, once he's swinging well, who cares.

So then why are modern golfers typically spending hours in the gym trying to look like Rory & Tiger?

PARlance wrote: »

How exactly is Rory or his weight relevant to this?

Because its an example of the best player in the world losing weight and improving his game.

PARlance wrote: »

I don't know anyone who would claim that Rory was carrying a lot of extra weight at any time since turning pro. If anything he has bulked up and probably gained a few inches.

He carried extra weight during his teenage years but he was still dominating the amateur world.


So alluding to the fact that Rory losing inches has somewhat improved his game is way off the mark. And comparing it to Shane likewise.

Yes and he has since lost weight, toned up and is now the best player in the world. Do you think the changes in his fitness & power have no bearing his world '1 status?

PARlance wrote: »

Patrick Reed was arguable the US's best players at the Ryder Cup, had a fantastic 2014, and is a similar build to Shane. He's playing at a level above Shane. It certainly isn't nessecary to be slim to win or slim to move up to another level for Shane.

Reed is at least 10KG lighter than Shane (according to wikipedia)
Also I think its pretty much accepted around the world that you dont aim for either of their body types, you will always have outliers like Daly, its doesnt make it ok or good for your game.

PARlance wrote: »

And any additional weight being carried is not the main issue, as First Up (who brought up this) points out that it would/could probably be as a result of a more focused Shane. Something which Shane has seemed to address as the year has gone on.

Focus is the key for Shane.

Being fitter and stronger can only help his game, I dont know why you continue to refute this when the rest of the world agrees.

FixdePitchmark

Once a bully - always a bully.

Seen it in school .

I think there should be a rule on here about talking about a golfers weight - you can't even talk about gambling. Yet you can give Ireland's leading pro stick over his weight.

Maybe - Shane is a so called outlier - Like Ian Woosnam - I bet Ian - had to hear you are too short, all his life - **** them anyway Ian - as he stuck on a green jacket.

Russman

GreeBo wrote: »

Because its an example of the best player in the world losing weight and improving his game.

But its not necessarily a causal relationship. One could equally argue that since he got rid of Caroline he has improved his game.

For sure Shane looks like he could do with losing a few lbs, but its not a given that his game would improve. Look at Carl Petterson a few years ago, he lost something like 3 stone, couldn't play at all and had to put the weight back on to get his game back.

You don't need to be a stick insect to play good golf.

PARlance

With all your multi quoting Greebo you failed to address the point I made that Rory was a great amateur, indeed world number 1 amateur , while he had a little extra weight. It didn't stop him excelling as a teenager.
As a result, bring Rory is as an example is irrelevant. He was at the peak of his game during both periods.

And pun intended, but bringing Rory into a issue on weight loss is just stretching it. He has never been outside a normal weight imo as it is fairly normal for teenagers to add weight as they are going through growth bursts.

Personally I think he has excelled recently due to the fact that he is keeping his hair shorter now. It's a well know fact that not many world number 1's have long curly hair..... Rolls eyes.

First Up

Russman wrote: »

But its not necessarily a causal relationship. One could equally argue that since he got rid of Caroline he has improved his game.

For sure Shane looks like he could do with losing a few lbs, but its not a given that his game would improve. Look at Carl Petterson a few years ago, he lost something like 3 stone, couldn't play at all and had to put the weight back on to get his game back.

You don't need to be a stick insect to play good golf.

I for one am not saying that it is. However there is strong correlation between lifestyle and body shape/weight and the latter is a reasonably good indicator of the former.

So while weight loss would not necessarily of itself improve Shane's game, the more disciplined his lifestyle the better his chances of reaching the next level. Without being privy to his daily - or nightly - routine we can only go on the evidence available. That evidence includes his weight, which I am happy to say seems to be trending downwards.

rrpc

Well he's up to 53rd in the world this week, so he's definitely on the way up.

Tiger Mcilroy

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Once a bully - always a bully.

Seen it in school .

I think there should be a rule on here about talking about a golfers weight - you can't even talk about gambling. Yet you can give Ireland's leading pro stick over his weight.

Maybe - Shane is a so called outlier - Like Ian Woosnam - I bet Ian - had to hear you are too short, all his life - **** them anyway Ian - as he stuck on a green jacket.

Who is giving mcilroy stick over his weight, i thought this thread was about shane lowry?

slave1

Sure Nicklaus was a chubby bubby for the first years of his career, we're just used to seeing the newer photos of him since he lost the weight at the turn of the 70's...

pistol_75

If you see Shane in the flesh which I have recently he is actually much slimmer than he looks on TV. He actually looks very strong which I think is more important. I know he has his own trainer that he works with and has made a lot of improvements from when he first came on tour.

I wish people would accept him for what he is. would hate to see him go down the route of someone like David Duval or even Darren Clarke to a lesser extent who admits he has problems with his swing since he lost so much weight.

abff

I think the key issue is not how much weight Lowry is carrying, but how fit he is. If he is fit enough to continue playing well at the end of four days of competition while contending, then that should be all that really matters. Recent results would tend to indicate that fitness is not a problem.

And changing his body shape significantly could adversely affect his swing, as others have suggested.

Keano

abff wrote: »

I think the key issue is not how much weight Lowry is carrying, but how fit he is. If he is fit enough to continue playing well at the end of four days of competition while contending, then that should be all that really matters. Recent results would tend to indicate that fitness is not a problem.

And changing his body shape significantly could adversely affect his swing, as others have suggested.

Nail on the head. He can still be carrying a few pounds and be fit.

First Up

slave1 wrote: »

Sure Nicklaus was a chubby bubby for the first years of his career, we're just used to seeing the newer photos of him since he lost the weight at the turn of the 70's...

There were guys heading to the first tee straight from the pub in those days. Different scene now.