Lowry Battling Stomach Virus and Penalties at The Open
Royal Troon, Scotland – Shane Lowry‘s challenging week at The 153rd Open Championship has taken a further downturn, as the 2019 champion is battling a severe stomach virus that significantly impacted his third-round performance. The Irish golfer, already reeling from a two-stroke penalty incurred on Friday, struggled to a 74 on Saturday, leaving him at three-over-par 216 through 54 holes.
Lowry revealed that the virus had been circulating through his family in the days leading up to the tournament. He woke up at 2:30 AM on Saturday with stomach cramps,unable to eat or even keep down a protein drink. This physical distress made for a grueling round, with Lowry admitting he spent much of his time searching for available restrooms on the course.
“Honestly, every bathroom I went in and tried to throw up. I couldn’t,” lowry stated after his round. “It’s just such a bad feeling. I think lack of energy towards the end maybe did me in. Look, I don’t want to make excuses. It is indeed what it is. It’s just really bad timing obviously.”
The stomach virus compounded the disappointment of a two-stroke penalty Lowry received for his ball moving in the rough on the 12th hole during his second round. He described the penalty as having “as much damage as the virus to suck all the energy from my being.”
Despite the physical and mental toll, Lowry expressed a determination to finish the tournament strong. “I played poorly today and obviously had a bad finish,” he acknowledged. “I felt like I ground it out really well to get to one-under for the day through 13.Then a bad shot on 14 (for triple bogey) and a little bit of a bad break as well.”
Looking ahead, lowry’s focus shifts to the Ryder Cup. “the annoying thing for me today is I didn’t get to enjoy today as much as I would have liked. Saturday at The Open in your home country, I should enjoy it a lot more than I did, just because of how I felt,” he said.”Hopefully I get out tomorrow morning and try and enjoy it as best I can, try to shoot the best score I can, and then have a couple weeks off before the playoffs. For me, my big mindset for the next few months is about the Ryder Cup and trying to win that. That’s where all my work is going to go towards over the next while.”