Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley has warned Shane Lowry that he may regret his comments about The Open. The Irish athlete claimed that Lowry's complaints about the weather and tee times were "nonsense" and stated that it was just the way of the golfing world.
Lowry was leading the Open by three-shots at one stage in the third round, but Saturday's windy conditions on the back-nine cost him dearly. The 37-year-old did bring himself back into winning contention with a few birdies on the final day, but he eventually had to settle for sixth place as America's Xander Schauffele stormed to victory at nine-under-par.
The Irishman had some forthright opinions about the setup at Troon after experiencing the torrid conditions on Saturday, saying: "Look, I don’t really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun. Driver, driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17.
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"Then you’re standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually hit the fairway, if you can reach the fairway, and it’s 230 yards to the fairway. Bear in mind my driver pitched about 220 yards on the 17th hole. So, yeah, it’s not much fun out there. Circumstantial as well, it’s obviously very difficult. But you’d have to question why there wasn’t a couple of tees put forward today, to be honest."
Despite the howling weather and tough conditions, McGinley disagreed with Lowry and claimed his fellow Irishman could live to regret his words.
Speaking on the Golf Channel's 'Live From' show, McGinley was asked whether the tees should have been moved up to offset the howling breeze during Saturday's play, as per Lowry's complaint. He said: "No. Nonsense. That’s links golf courses. Yes, the guys at the end got screwed, and yes, the golfing gods decided to shuffle the pack by making the leaders play in the toughest weather conditions, but that’s the perils of playing links golf and that’s kind of part of what you have to accept."
He added: "Shane will regret that comment. I know what he’s like; he was hot when he came off. He let a great opportunity slip to win this tournament, and he knew that. He was hot, he had to do press, and he said things that I’m sure he has regretted because nobody loves links golf courses more than he does."
While the last major of the season has now been and gone, there's still plenty left to play for this season. The 3M Open is the next tournament on the PGA calendar, while there's also the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship before the end of August.
Lowry will be hoping to get back to winning ways after his near miss at Troon as he bids to end 2024 on a high.
