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

No, he said about overshooting the green on the first and the frustration turned a 5 or 6 into a 7 - and about that 7 being bad, but the one after on the par 5 putting him out of contention (based on the way the scoring subsequently panned out). He didn’t overshoot the green on the par 5 i think.

I’m merely pointing out that a major winner would not think his chance of winning was gone after his 2nd shot to the first hole when playing in the final group on Sunday, which you said in your OP (“overshooting the green from the fairway cost him the chance of a win”), and if he did it wouldn’t say much for his mental game.

I get your point, but I don’t think it should be applicable to what happened there.

Very disappointing when you see Pieters winning it on 10 under and thinking back to when Shane stood on the 1st tee on that score. He tweeted after his round yesterday that he likes the desert, the desert certainly didn't like him today.

Think the putter cost him again, missed a lot of birdie chances in the 4-10 foot range.

Positives are he's clearly playing well straight out of the gate and he can put it behind him quickly next week.

His putting is his Achilles heel, though and he's at best a streaky putter. I'm sure if it was just a matter of working on it, every pro would be a world class putter, so unlikely to change too much at this stage.

He just needs the putter to get hot on the right weeks when he's playing well. Here's hoping for another big season out of Shane!

That's pressure for ye!

These Rolex events aren't easily won.

I was watching his par 5s closely yesterday and there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it other than he doesn't do consistently well on them. Yesterday he had a poor tee shot which resulted in a 7, that was a very difficult green/pin position to be fair. On another two(Including the 18th) he missed fairly short putts for birdie and had to settle for par.

I think par 5 strategy is a key component of a pros game.Had the impression following Haro down the years that was a weakness for him and definitely for Shane.Seamus Power seems to do ok on the par 5s.You would think Shanes short game would put him ahead of most when pitching on Par 5s .

When looking at stats you have to delve a little deeper. Why is his par 5 scoring so poor? Had a hunch that it was still due to his putting as on average you are left with far longer putts on Par 5s if hitting the green in two.

In this circumstance lag putting becomes very important. Hit the par 5 in two, you have to be leaving yourself pretty much tap ins for a birdie. Just this morning in Dubai Shane hit the 18th in two but three putted for par from 35 feet after leaving himself more than 5 foot for his second putt.

This led me to look up his 3 putt avoidance stat on the PGA Tour for the last few seasons and lo and behold it's pretty horrific. Shane was 173rd for 3 putt avoidance last season and 186th the year before and this is out of about 190 players on the tour.

Again 3 putt avoidance is only one stat and can also be a sign of a more aggressive putter. My feeling is if Shane improved his lag putting or possibly was less aggressive with long and midrange eagle putts his stats on par 5s would improve.

Don't particularly think the par 5 thing is a big deal for him, as always it's a case of playing well and making putts and Shane doesn't always make enough putts.

has just missed small putt for par on 17 ,3 feet at most ,birdie required to make cut on 18

Shane was extremely lucky that only 64 players scored par or better. He’s one of 81 people to make the cut on 1 over. If he had not missed that putt on 17, he would still have been on the cut mark, but one of only 65 players to make the cut.

I thought the cut was top 65 plus ties. Has that been changed?

glad to be wrong about the cut ,hopefully he has a good score tomorrow and gets back into this for a top ten finish which might be doable.

Good round today considering he had a double, a 7 birdie 68 currently T29.

Saudi petrodollar bonanza!