Hero Dubai Desert Classic: Shane Lowry looks to bounce back from Dubai Invitational ‘hurt’ and challenge for Rolex Series win | Golf News

Shane Lowry believes he can take plenty of learnings into the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after being left ‘hurt’ by his final-hole disappointment at the Dubai Invitational on Sunday.

Lowry came agonisingly close to claiming a first DP World Tour title since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and first worldwide success since April 2024 at the season opener, where he moved top of the leaderboard during an eventful final round.

The Irishman charged into contention after three birdies in his first four holes and held a one-shot lead heading into the 72nd hole, where he found the greenside bunker with his second shot into the closing par-four before finding water with his third.

A closing double-bogey dropped Lowry to tied-third and two strokes behind winner Nacho Elvira, although the 38-year-old is keen to take positives from that performance into this week’s Rolex Series event – live on Thursday from 4am on Sky Sports Golf.

“I think you can’t be stupid and say ‘oh, let’s just forget about last week and move on – I think you have to look at what you learned from it,” Lowry said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I feel like you’re always learning week-to-week, day-to-day, and like last week is no different.

“The great thing about golf is that even if I won last week, you’re still here as another player this week and you’re still here teeing it up on Thursday and you’re wanting to play well. No matter what went behind you, it doesn’t change anything going forward.”

On how he dealt with missing out on victory, Lowry added: “I think just a lot of open and honest conversations with my coaches, my team and myself and my caddie [on] what we did wrong, what can we do better. There are certainly a few things – it wasn’t just the last hole last week.

“I probably had a few too many three-putts last week. I had a few times where I probably dropped silly shots, so it wasn’t just the last hole last week that let me down. It was a few things along the way. I felt like I played some great golf and I think you need to look at that and look at the positives and bring them forward.”

Lowry also finished runner-up to McIlroy at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Sepp Straka at the Truist Championship on the PGA Tour last season, with past experiences helping him bounce back from Sunday’s disappointment.

“Don’t get me wrong, if I did that at The Masters, it would take me a lot more than a day to get over it,” Lowry explained. “It’s clear that it’s been a while since I’ve won a tournament, so to get a win at any tournament – on either of the tours I play – would be really nice.

“Like last week hurt. Did it hurt as much as like a really big event, a major or something? No, absolutely not. I still want to win. I still tee it up every week wanting to win.

“That’s what’s hard about this game, isn’t it. There are plenty of players who played last week that are over on the range now trying to find their game, but they didn’t feel as bad as I did leaving Dubai Creek [Resort] on Sunday evening.

“That’s the funny thing about golf – I’ve probably played close to 400 tournaments in my career and I’ve only won seven. You lose a lot more than you win, so you get used to losing as a professional golfer.

“There are certain weeks where you finish fifth and you’re happy, or third and you’re happy, but more often than not, you leave a tournament on the Sunday evening and you’re not happy with yourself. You get used to it and you learn to deal with it and move on and look at the future.”

Tyrrell Hatton returns as defending champion at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, won four times by Rory McIlroy. Lowry, McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland are among the other members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in action.

Watch the Hero Dubai Desert Classic throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 4am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 7.30am. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.