Shane Lowry, the last man to win the British Open, winning at Royal Portrush in 2019 before last year’s Open was canceled by COVID-19, struggled to a 1-over-par 71 and called his form on Thursday “pretty average.”
“I didn’t play my best golf,” Lowry said. “Playing with Louis (Oosthuizen) who’s shooting 6-under and playing great, it kind of makes you feel probably a little bit different.
“I was disappointed to bogey the last. I think if I would have parred the last and shot level par I would have been quite happy with myself going home this afternoon, but I didn’t. But I battled hard. I was quite proud of myself. On to tomorrow.”
His score notwithstanding, though, Lowry called it “very special day” for himself being announced as the reigning Open champion on the first tee.
Shane Lowry watches his iron shot from the 16th tee during the first round of the British Open on July 15, 2021. AFP via Getty Images“The announcement on the first tee, I’ve been waiting over a year for that, so it’s quite nice,” he said. “It was quite unsettling at the start. I got off to a pretty nervy start. I battled hard for the rest of it. But it’s so good to have the crowds here and it’s so good to be playing in the Open Championship like we know. Like the big grandstands and the big crowds and getting clapped on the grandstands and on the tees, that’s pretty cool.”
