Shane Lowry happy to get tricky first British Open shot behind him

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — If anybody stepped to the first tee at Portrush with a powerful memory, it was Shane Lowry.

He is, after all, the last player to win a British Open at Portrush, in 2019, and he’d been anticipating the emotions that would engulf him for that first tee shot this week for quite a while.

“I’ve fought with this round of golf in my head for a few weeks now,’’ Lowry revealed after shooting a 1-under-par 70 to stand three shots off the first-round lead. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. The first tee shot wasn’t that easy. I wasn’t feeling very comfortable there. 

“I would put that up there with first tee at the Ryder Cup,’’ Lowry went on. “I was fighting with that all morning this morning. It’s going to be all right for the rest of the week. I just wanted to get my tournament under way. 

“Obviously, I want so much to do well in this tournament. I want so much to give myself a chance on Sunday. You can’t do that without hitting a good first tee shot. I knew I needed to do that. We all know the dangers that first hole can throw at you, so I was happy to get under way.’’

Unlike a number of players, who hit irons off the first tee, Lowry went with driver on the tricky hole that has out-of-bounds on both sides of the fairway.

It’s the hole where Rory McIlroy hit his first tee shot out of bounds on his first shot in 2019 and never recovered.

Lowry sent his ball 241 yards, landing in the rough just to the right of the fairway, setting himself up for a 183-yard second shot that put him on the green en route to a two-putt for par.

“I watched a lot of golf this morning,’’ Lowry said. “You see Paddy [Harrington] hit a good tee shot and he had 2-iron in. So, I was like biggest head in the bag, give it a rip. Thankfully it went straight.’’

Lowry, who won that 2019 by an astounding six shots, got a massive ovation from the grandstands surrounding the first tee.

He got another huge greeting on 18 as he was finishing his round and McIlroy, another home-country favorite, was getting his round underway.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting 18 to be full with Rory out on the course, (but) the grandstand was full,’’ Lowry said. “Nice reception walking down 18. It was pretty cool. Actually, there’s an extra little bit of pressure on that 5-footer (for par to finish the round). It would have been disappointing to miss that.

“The crowd have been amazing all week. I won the last time here, and I’m trying to use it to my advantage. All day, I felt like I handled myself really well. Crowds were amazing. Everything about this tournament has just been great. 

“I tried to kind of use that as motivation instead of sometimes you can put a bit too much pressure on yourself. I tried to use it in a different way today, and I felt like I did a good job with that.’’

Lowry said he had anxious moments on Wednesday night in anticipation of Thursday’s first round, going for a walk to calm himself down.

“I’d say the boys will tell you I was probably a little bit quiet this morning,’’ he said. “I’m not really myself. I’m happy that round of golf is over with, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.’’