Lowry contending again at The Honda Classic

Shane Lowry stood soaking wet and cold outside the clubhouse at PGA National a year ago, having finished one shot shy of first-time winner Sepp Straka at The Honda Classic.

Luck hadn’t been on Lowry’s side that day. As he’d stood on the tee at the 72nd hole that afternoon, dark skies opened and rain pelted down. Straka was in the fairway some 330 yards ahead, his tee shot unimpeded by the elements, a mid-iron in his hand at the closing par 5, where he made a clinching birdie to win. Lowry made par, and it was over.

Stunned, Lowry called it “as bad a break as I’ve got in a while.”

Sometimes the golf gods tap you on the shoulder, and sometimes they don’t.

Lowry is nothing if not resilient, though, and he’s back again this year. He opened with a 2-under 68 Thursday, his score not fully reflecting how solidly he had played from tee to green. (He hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation.) In mild conditions, the Champion course had provided a morning that was scoring-friendly, but Lowry didn’t get enough putts to fall to take full advantage.

“I played nice,” he said. “I didn't hole as many putts as I would have liked. I felt like I could have shot a couple better. But I'm happy all in all."

He was three behind morning-wave leaders Joseph Bramlett and Billy Horschel.

It would have been easy to wallow in last year’s defeat, but Lowry has moved on.

“Yes, if it didn’t rain, the probability was I might have made birdie and got into a playoff, but it wasn’t a God-given right to win,” he said. “Yes, it was a bad break, but you get bad breaks in golf.

“You have a two-shot lead with five to play around this course and you play them at level par, you generally get the job done,” he continued. “Sepp played the last five holes in 3 under, which is pretty good round here. He went and won the tournament.”

The winner of the 2019 Open Championship in his home country of Ireland, now ranked 20th in the world, Lowry, 35, has a U.S. base not far from PGA National. He enjoys the fact that the Champion, heavily guarded by water and usually buffered in high winds, stands as one of the PGA TOUR’s tougher tests. He figures he’s tough enough to handle it.

He’s also in the midst of a long stretch of golf, with Honda the third event in the middle of five in a row. In fact, he is playing eight of nine weeks to open his season.

“I feel like I live here (Palm Beach), I like the course, (and) I feel I can win around a course like this,” Lowry said. “I want to play here."