Shane Lowry has had to wait a long time to get his shot at a second Major but the Irishman insists he will be trying to make it business as usual when he tees it up at the 2020 US PGA Championship.
It is 13 months since Lowry lifted the Claret Jug and the coronavirus pandemic has meant that TPC Harding Park will this week be hosting the first Major of the year in August.
The U.S. Open and Masters Tournament will follow in September and November respectively, while Lowry will have to wait until 2021 to defend his Open crown, meaning he has the chance to become a back to back Major Champion this week.
With health protocols in place and no crowds, as well as being a Major Champion at a Major Championship for the first time, this will be a very different week for Lowry, but the 33-year-old is looking to treat it like any other after finishing in a tie for sixth at last week's WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.
"I am the most recent Major Champion, although it doesn't feel like it because it was so long ago. But yeah, I'm happy to be back playing a Major Championship," he said.
"I managed to play myself into a little bit of form last week. I played okay, so I was happy with that. We'll see how it goes.
"No matter what happened in the past you're going out there in any given week just trying to perform your best. That's kind of the way I try and do things.
"The only thing I can do this week is go out tomorrow and try and shoot the best score I can.
"It's just going to be a difficult week and I just feel like if I can play my best golf, I can give myself a chance this week. But it does need my best golf."
Lowry has credited some of his good performance last week to having seen his coach and to having caddie Bo Martin back on the bag after they, like many others, were separated by coronavirus restrictions.
The only thing I can do this week is go out tomorrow and try and shoot the best score I can
"I've been on my own trying to figure it out for myself," he said. "I hadn't seen my coach Neil (Manchip) since March. Hadn't seen Bo since March. He obviously has watched me playing for the last two years.
"So it was nice, even no matter how many videos you send to them or how many calls you do over the phone, it's quite difficult to do it when you're not in person.
"Bo just said a couple of things on the putting green at the start of the week and I feel it clicked and I feel a little bit more comfortable. Even though I didn't have the best putting week last week, it was a little bit better, and that's why I did a little bit better.
"I don't want to throw too many flowers at him and give him too much press, but it was good to have Bo back on the bag last week."
Lowry, who revealed he has been playing with this week's defending champion Brooks Koepka during the hiatus, will now be away from his wife and daughter at home until at least after the U.S. Open, which ends on September 20, due to quarantine rules in Ireland.
But the five time European Tour winner was quick to point out there are many making far greater sacrifices in the current climate and beyond.
"It was very difficult saying goodbye to your wife and your three-year-old for 10 weeks, but like I said to them, I'm not going off to war," he said. "I'm going to play golf. It's not the end of the world. It's strange times in our life and it's something that I have to do.
"It's not easy, but it's fine. I'm not going to stand here and want everyone to feel sorry for me because a lot of people have to do it in much more difficult circumstances. That's kind of the way I'm looking at it."
