It’s been two years since Shane Lowry memorably captured his maiden Major title in front of home fans at Royal Portrush, and the Irishman said he is feeling confident ahead of his delayed defence of the Claret Jug – which was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lowry had a lot longer to hold on to his Major trophy than he initially expected, but after two years of being in possession of the title of Champion Golfer of the Year, he is looking forward to defending it at Royal St. George's.
"Everybody has commented a lot on it over the last two years, and not that you get sick of hearing it because you never get sick of hearing that you're The Open champion, but I'm kind of ready to defend it," said Lowry.
"I'm ready to go and play in the Open again and I'm looking forward to it.
"I think, I hope that I can be competitive this week. I just like to put up a good defense of my trophy, and I'd give anything to have a chance to win come the weekend. I'm out there planning for that over the next few days, and we'll see how it goes."
Lowry arrives at Royal St George's in good form, with a recent tie for fourth in the US PGA Championship and a tie for 23rd in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
After in preparation of his defence this week, Lowry decided to stay in Ireland rather than travel to Scotland in order to get his links golf preparation under way.
And while he admitted that it still takes him time to get used to links golf after playing months on the PGA Tour at a time, after spending time playing over the last week in Ireland, he feels more than ready to defend.
"I've had some good results over the last number of months, and I'm pretty happy where my game is at," he said.
"I've played a couple of links courses back home last week, which is pretty nice. It was nice to get away with my friends and just go out there and play some links golf and get some good prep for this week. You know, because it does take a little while to get used to playing links golf, and I think I kind of underestimated that."
"I remember my first full season on the PGA Tour, I came back and went to play the Scottish Open and struggled to get my head around hitting a 7-iron 150 yards as opposed to hitting it 180 or 190 over in the States. It does take a little bit of getting used to, but I feel like I'm there and I feel like I'm ready to kind of attack the week."
But that doesn't mean that Lowry will be without nerves comes Thursday about defending an event of this calibre, and he admitted that he expects there will be a little anxiety on Wednesday evening - and it's not all about The Open.
"There is always that little bit of anxiousness to get out there and get going on a Thursday morning, and it'll be the same this week," said Lowry, who alluded that there was more to play for this week than just a Major title. For the Irishman, that likely means a spot on Padraig Harrington's Ryder Cup side, as he currently sits one place outside automatic qualifying on the World's Points List.
"Portrush, when I look back on it, my form going into Portrush was really good. I was competing in America. I was competing well. I had a chance to win a couple of tournaments. I know I finished kind of middle of the pack at the Irish Open in Lahinch, but I really felt like my golf was quite good. When I look back I was in a great place, but I feel like I was.
"There's a lot of things that I've got to play for this week other than defending the trophy. It's a bit of everything. I think it's -- to be announced on the first tee as defending champion, I'll be happy obviously to get that tee shot away, and if you've seen the rough down the first hole, I'll be happy if it's on the fairway, even happier if it's on the fairway. Yeah, I have no idea, but like I'm kind of going into this week with an open mind. I'm really looking forward to the week ahead, and I'm looking forward to kind of playing in the Open Championship, because we did miss it last year.
