Shane Lowry on the Ryder Cup: ‘There are not many days go by that I don’t think about it’

Shane Lowry will get to enjoy some downtime, two weeks to be exact, before hitting the road again for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, in which he is currently 16th in the standings. He is set to play the St Jude Classic, the BMW and then all the way to the Tour Championship, that finale confined to the top 30 on the standings.

After that? Well, it will be back this side of the Atlantic for the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club and the BMW PGA Championship. So, a busy autumn ahead, but the Ryder Cup is the one which has the big red circle around it and the prospect of an away win on Europe’s team captained by Luke Donald.

“I can’t speak for other players, but personally I put it way up there [with anything]; preparing, getting ready, trying to make the team, trying to go there and win. There’s probably not many days go by that I don’t think about it. I think, yeah, it would be up there, and I would love to do something like that.

“[Losing in Whistling Straits] was hard, but you get to experience Rome and how great that was. There’s obviously a lot of talk about Bethpage this year, but I do think as a team, we’ve got a lot of continuity from the last one with [Luke’s] set-up, and I feel like he’ll have us best prepared as he can going into it.”

We are watching greatness every time Scottie Scheffler steps on a golf course, whether he cares or not

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The Open Day Four: Scottie Scheffler cruises to victory at Royal Portrush – As it happened

Of the expected hot reception from the New York crowd, Lowry responded: “It might not be as bad as people say. People say it will be bad, but we’ll see. I think, if you’re prepared for something, you’ll deal with it okay. When something happens and you’re not prepared for it, that’s when it gets hard. We’ll be prepared. Luke Donald will prepare his team very well, and we’ll be ready to go.”

Leona Maguire of Ireland tees off on the fourth hole during the final round of The Amundi Evian Championship. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty

Leona Maguire adds Dundonald tune up before Women’s Open

A run into form at the Evian, where she finished tied-seventh, has convinced Leona Maguire to add this week’s Scottish Women’s Open at Dundonald Links on to her schedule ahead of next week’s AIG Women’s Open, the final Major of the LPGA season.

Maguire’s finish in the Evian – the fourth of five Majors on the women’s circuit – was her first top-10 since the season-opening Tournament of Champions and has given her some momentum heading to Royal Porthcawl.

Lauren Walsh is also in the field in Scotland – a co-sanctioned event on the LPGA Tour and the LET – while tour rookie Anna Foster is second reserve on the wait list.

Word of Mouth

“I played with [Scottie] a bunch in college and he was not that good, so he’s figured out a lot of stuff since then” – A not so scientific Bryson DeChambeau on Scheffler’s rise to the top.

By the numbers: <70

For the first time in The Open’s history, there were back-to-back sub-70 stroke averages in consecutive rounds at Royal Portrush: the stroke average for Saturday’s third round was 69.971 and for Sunday’s final round it was 69.886.

Nick Faldo of England holes the winning putt on the 18th green during the 119th Open Championship played on the Old Course at St Andrews in 1990. Photograph: Getty Images/Getty

On this day: July 22nd, 1990

“It’s nice to have my baby back,” said Nick Faldo on getting his hands on the Claret Jug for a second time after his win over the Old Course at St Andrews.

The 119th Open had seemed set for a duel between Greg Norman, the world number one, and Faldo until Saturday’s third round had seen the duo move in opposite directions: Faldo shot a 67, Norman a 76. “I just putted terrible,” lamented the Great White Shark. Suddenly, it was all Faldo’s, his to win. Or lose.

In the end, a final-round 71 for a total of 18-under-par 270 was sufficient for Faldo to ease his way to a five-strokes winning margin over Mark McNulty and Payne Stewart.

“My stomach was churning. With a five-stroke lead, everybody expected me to win,” said Faldo, who showed no such nerves in his march to victory. It was his second of three wins in The Open.

Social Swing

Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on another impressive victory. So many iron shots were amazing and what a putting performance – Phil Mickleson handing out plaudits to Scottie. Yes, the same Phil Mickelson who posted back in March: “Here’s a hot take. Does Scottie Scheffler win in 2025 before the Ryder Cup? I don’t think so.”

Congratulations Scottie. Also a huge well done to everyone involved in making it an incredible Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Great set up, amazing fans. The support for Rors was incredible – Darren Clarke who missed the cut in the 153rd Open but moves back to the seniors circuit this week for the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Sunningdale.

Congratulations to Scottie on an extraordinary week of golf. We’re so proud to see him join Max Faulkner and Shane Lowry as Champion Golfers on our links – Royal Portrush Golf Club’s official social media hail their new champion.

Know the Rules

Q: A player takes lateral relief from a red penalty area by correctly dropping a ball in the two club-length relief area. While the player is assessing their next shot, a gust of wind blows the ball back into the penalty area. What is the ruling?

A: There is no penalty but the player must replace the ball back on its original spot. Such a situation is covered under Rule 9.3: If the player puts the original ball or another ball into play by dropping, placing or replacing it, and natural forces cause the ball at rest to move and come to rest in another area of the course or out of bounds, the ball must be replaced on its original spot.