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

willabur wrote: »

bit blown out of proportion this announcement.
By the sounds of it he is not putting his hand in his pocket, more helping them out by dedicating some of his own time and expertise in relation to high performance environments

Its great to see but Feels a long way short of sponsorship

Yeah, it's not a full blown sponsorship, but I'd say he's putting his hand in his pocket alright, just doesn't want that to be the focus, is the way I'd personally read it.

Is there any particular reason that Lowry doesn't seem to play par 5s well

The then sinks a long putt for birdie on the par 5 :-)

TheRiverman wrote: »

Unfortunately two bogeys on the last two holes today. Also he birdied the first and then bogeyed the second. Those mistakes are ruining the good play and a chance of winning or a high finish almost every time he plays.

He's definitely striking and playing well, but it's just a couple of loose holes here and there. The form is coming though and they always say they'd prefer to be working on cutting out errors than finding birdies.

He's very close to top form though I think.

The Big Easy wrote: »

He's definitely striking and playing well, but it's just a couple of loose holes here and there. The form is coming though and they always say they'd prefer to be working on cutting out errors than finding birdies.

He's very close to top form though I think.

Two bogeys on the first two holes today, that's four in a row, unfortunately not close to top form.

missed 9 footer on 12 for birdie and 6 footer on 13 for par.need to be making one of them.Right on the cut so needs to par home although the cut may move out to +1 or +2 as sees to be playing tough today.

Trampas wrote: »

7 on par 5 might mean his race is cooked. Needs 1 maybe 2 birds on last 2 holes to make it to the weekend

Misses 3 putts under 10 feet in row and then makes a horlicks of par 5 , for double , not looking good

might still scrap in as was 91st an hour ago and now up to 75th.unlikely but ...

tobsey wrote: »

68th now. Good chance.

95% chance of +2 being the cut according to a live statistical model, so almost certain he'll make the weekend now.

It's a tough course that's playing its toughest at the moment.

TheRiverman wrote:

Looks like he'll make it for the weekend.

Looks like he won't, cut gone to +1.

Cut now certain to be +2, so Shane has made it on the mark. Hopefully a good weekend to come after that reprieve.

really lucky to get in ,a few birdies for tail enders at the end there and he was toast.Would like to think this will work mentally to his advantage and he needs to cut out the doubles ,get a few putts to drop ,and manage the pars 5's better and he can get a good finish here.

TheRiverman wrote: »

Unfortunately "untimely and costly" has been a big feature of his game too many times since he won the Open.

he is turning bogeys into doubles at the moment which is not good,

one thing is clear,his current form would not warrant a pick ,even from Haro.

Don't know what it is with Shane, there have been almost zero highlights in his game since the Open.
I wonder would a change of caddy help, the Bo Martin influence appears to have stalled.

dublin49 wrote: »

the wheels seem to come off after a bad hole ,which would suggest the caddie is not refocusing him after a bad hole.Not sure ,he appears to get down on himself very easily.

Speaking of focusing and the role of the caddie, interesting to see that Harry Diamond is getting credit for Rory's victory, particularly on the 18th.

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Anyone else feel that Kiawah is a course that is nicely suited to Lowry? Coastal, Winds etc
Good driver. Good scrambling and playing brilliantly with the Irons.
Putter? Not going great. But maybe he can find a stroke on these paspalum greens.

I absolutely agree. A decent week with the putter and I could see a top 10, a good week with it and he could well win. Here's hoping.

willabur wrote: »

he's not a particularly good driver off the ball

112th on tour for FIR, 70th in distance which is not a good combo

he is also not a good scrambler, he is 172nd on tour for scrambles.

46 strokes gained on approach - again not great

you are correct about his putter though

You might get a ban for posting facts about Shane....be warned

willabur wrote: »

he's not a particularly good driver off the ball

112th on tour for FIR, 70th in distance which is not a good combo

he is also not a good scrambler, he is 172nd on tour for scrambles.

46 strokes gained on approach - again not great

you are correct about his putter though

Next you'll be telling me he's not even a good golfer

Good job the trophies and cheques are handed out for overall scores or Shane would be in trouble! :pac:

Pdoghue wrote: »

Remind me again, which trophies has Shane won this season, or last?

Golf is difficult and winning even more so. Was watching one of the Tiger docs recently when someone said how golf was one of the few sports where you're losing the majority of the time, even the world number 1 loses more than he wins, which is pretty cool when you think about it.

Shane is top class professional golfer who now only plays in the biggest world events and they're incredibly hard to win but he's won arguably the biggest one less than two years ago alongside WGC and his national open as an amateur.

I'm sure if he stayed at home he could have picked up one of the Canary Classics and everyone would be happy?

Pdoghue wrote: »

My point is, the stats don't lie. Maybe there's a connection between him not winning/contending and his stats.

Fair enough, but after what's happened in the past year, I think it's fairer to assess where he is in his game after this season.

Scoring average is still the most important stat there is. Breaking down the game by stats is probably useful to the golfers themselves in gauging where their weaknesses are but I imagine they mostly already know that, although Shane would probably say his scrambling or chipping/pitching is a strength of his game, when scrambling and par 5 stats suggest it isn't.

But the individual stats are rather meaningless alone. The statistically best putter is hardly ever in the top 50 of the money list yet people reckon the PGA Tour is a putting contest at times. The most accurate driver probably struggles to be in the top 100.

Stroke average first, then maybe GIR, or now strokes gained tee to green, in order of importance and correlation with who actually wins the tournaments and cashes the cheques.

The Big Easy wrote: »

And lots of people like to rag on him because he has the temerity to be Irish and successful!

I don't think people rag on Shane much at all. Pointing out that his stats aren't very good isn't ragging on him. I agree with willabur that because he's so likeable, people over estimate how good he is. He's a very good golfer, who has done exceptionally well to win a major and a wgc but outside of that his winning record is hardly outstanding. Maybe it's because we've been spoilt in the last 20 years with top Irish golfers but Shane is certainly no Rory or Padraig and his winning record is also a long way behind Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell. He has age on his side obviously. One thing about Shane is that he turns up in big events from time to time, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him win another major in his career.