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Irish golfer Shane Lowry finished in the runner-up position at last year's Honda Classic behind Austrian golfer Sepp Straka.
Lowry was naturally very disappointed with his finish at the tournament. He was caught in a sudden downpour at the 72nd hole and was not able to birdie like Straka did to take the lead.
Shane Lowry felt that being stuck in a bad rainfall was "as bad a break" that he had got in a while. However, this year he will get a chance to avenge his loss as he will be participating in the 2023 Honda Classic at Palm Gardens.
The 35-year-old spoke about his disappointing finish last year at the pre-tournament press conference:
"Last year's runner-up finish was obviously very disappointing. I had a two-shot lead with five to play. I didn't feel like I did much wrong the last five holes out here, which is tough to do because it's obviously a very tough stretch of golf and I got beat by Sepp in the end."
While he might have been saddened by his game at the Honda Classic last year, he went on to have a successful season ahead. He won the BMW PGA Championship and tied for third at the Masters.
Shane Lowry spoke about it:
"It was disappointing at the time, but I remember it kind of kickstarted a nice consistent run of golf for me and I played well going into the Masters then and stuff like that. It gave me a lot of confidence for the year ahead."
"It wasn't a God-given right to win" - Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry was further asked about the 18th hole at the Honda Classic last year at the pre-tournament press conference this year.
"It was one of those where I stand on the tee and torrential rain starts and I already see Sepp sort of 330 yards down the middle of the fairway."
Lowry believed that if it hadn't rained, he had a chance to win the tournament.
"Yes, if it didn't rain, the probability was I might have made birdie and got into a play-off, but it wasn't a God-given right to win."
However, he said that these things keep happening in golf and added that he felt okay after a good season.
"Yes it was a bad break, but they're the breaks you get in golf. I was hoping it was going to repay me back at some stage during the year. I had a decent year last year, so yeah, whatever."
Lowry went into the 2023 Honda Classic leading the power rankings along with Sungjae Im. At the end of the first day, Lowry is currently ranked T9 at the 2023 Honda Classic at Palm Gardens. He will certainly be looking to win the title that escaped him by inches last year.
