Shane Lowry admits he wasn't "aggressive" enough during the final round of this year's US Open at Oakmont and detailed changes he would have made to his game.
Speaking on Tuesday night's Off The Ball, Lowry explained that not going out and attacking the course to make more birdies may have cost him a first major.
"Obviously I'd love to have that final round back again," he said. "I just wasn't aggressive enough. I only recently spoke to my caddie Dermot [Byrne] about it. He asked me, we were just sitting in Shanghai in the airport, he says 'would you do anything differently?'
"I said 'well, I would have went for the second green for a start.'... I could actually drive the green that day [instead of laying up]. There was a hazard to the left but it wasn't really in play if you hit a half decent tee shot. I was kind of trying not to make a mistake.
"I remember the words I said to him, I said 'all we need to do here is make a few pars here and get into the round'. You're being very defensive there, if you make a birdie on that course it's worth an awful lot. I probably should have been going out trying to make birdies. But those are 'ifs' and 'buts'. It's a strange game."
The Offaly man spoke about his putting and driving leading up to that point and highlighted his inability to make a good start to tournaments.
"I putted great that week, for about 67 holes. Then I three-putted 14, 15 and 16. Which is weird because I had putted great.
"I had been getting off to bad started in tournaments every week. At the US Open, I hit my very first tee-shot of the tournament into a bunker. I got the bunker shot down to about 50 yards and I holed it... All of a sudden you've a bit of momentum going forward. Maybe it was down to me just mentally not being there. I don't know."
Shane Lowry on day two of this year's Irish Open at the K Club. Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
Lowry reflected on a mixed year on and off the course and gave his verdict on some of his performances over the last 12 months.
"I don't know to be honest, it's a weird one. It's like every other year. You can sit here and say 'if I take the US Open out, it's not been a great year'. But last year, if you take Bridgestone [Invitational, WGC event] out, it wasn't a great year.
"I possibly could have won a major this year. I contended for a long, long time and I was only four or five holes away from doing it on possibly the hardest golf course I've ever played. That's the toughest test of golf that you'll ever get so I need to take the positives from it.
"Obviously I didn't reach my goals this year, I didn't win and I didn't make the Ryder Cup team. But I was travelling a lot to America, I got married this year. There was a lot of new things happening.
"Off the course, it's been a great year. On the course, it's been so-so. I'm kind of happy to have it behind me and I'm looking forward to 2017."
He added that even fatherhood wouldn't keep him from making another tilt at a major championship: "The baby is due around the end of February so I'll take some time off around then.
"It depends when Wendy has the baby, but I'll be back again for the Masters. We'll take it from there and see what happens."
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