While playing in tournaments right before the Ryder Cup can be a great way to warm up for it, there are some drawbacks as well. The pressure that it puts on the Ryder Cup players can be immense. They will have to think about how the fans will perceive any dip in their performance ahead of the Cup.

Forget fans, the players themselves will be worried about not doing well. The probability is quite high for them to judge their performance a bit too harshly. However, this Irish golfer is careful not to do that to himself. Considering the fact that the fans actually contested his spot on the team, he is confident. And this is despite his performance not being off the charts. What’s going on in his mind?

Disappointed with the score, but happy with the form 

After scoring a 5-under in his third round of the BMW PGA Championship, Shane Lowry addressed the press conference with surprising enthusiasm. True, it is his best round in the tournament so far, and much better than his previous round. But as the defending champion, his overall score falls a little flat.

Shane Lowry addressed how birdies are flying around in the tournament, and he hasn’t shot a lot of them. He admitted he was currently falling behind on the leaderboard. However, he sounded hopeful about a potential turn of events in the final round. “The greens are pure and if you hit the ball well you’re going to have a lot of chances, so yeah, I think I’m too far behind but who knows, stranger things have happened.”

Answering a question about the weather turning harsh, and his confidence in himself, Lowry said, “Yeah, regardless of what happens tomorrow, I’m very happy with how I played this week so far.” He included his last week’s performance as well and said he was “pretty happy with my form” of late. 

Being a captain’s pick and playing the Ryder Cup has its own pros and cons. The trust can surely be encouraging. However, fans are likely to question the decision based on whether their own picks matched the actual picks. Shane Lowry became a victim of that this year. His not-so-great results in the current season are also a cause for concern. 

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Although his performance in the BMW PGA Championship is not poor, it is not shining brightly. A glimpse of his scorecard in the ongoing tournament could paint a better picture for us.

Lowry steps up his game in the third round 

In the first round, Lowry did okay and scored a 3-under. The bogeys he sustained bang in the middle of the round, at the ninth and tenth holes, pulled back his five birdies. He scored a 69 on the par-72 course and finished the round.

In the second round, he actually showed improvement. However, it was a bit of a mixed bag. Lowry scored two eagles in the round and a birdie. But the four bogeys he picked up resulted in an underwhelming 1-under score.

He pushed the throttle and scored a 5-under in the third round. He was much faster in the first half of the round, with a 4-under. This included four birdies and no bogeys. But the second half sort of dulled down this superior performance, and added a 1-under to the round. 

With an overall score of 9-under, Lowry currently shares the 17th position in the table with seven others. Ludvig Aberg stands in the first position with a whopping 16-under. 

Hopefully, Shane Lowry can pull off a miracle as he mentioned, and catch with the 7 strokes lead. What do you think are the odds of that happening? Tell us in the comments! 

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