SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Shane Lowry was among 21 players at the Paris Olympics who headed across the Atlantic Ocean for the PGA Tour’s final tournament of the regular season that determines the top 70 who advance to the FedEx Cup postseason.
What makes the Irishman stand out is being No. 10 in the FedEx Cup.
That makes him a lock for the top 50 who advance to the all-important BMW Championship (guaranteed starts in all the signature events), and for the top 30 who advance to the Tour Championship.
“The Comcast Top 10,” Lowry said with a smile, referring to the $40 million in bonus money doled out to the top 10 in the regular season.
It’s not just about the money. It’s about opportunity.
Lowry, the 2019 British Open champion, is having one of his most consistent years. He has six top-10 finishes, two of them in majors, one of them a team victory with Rory McIlroy in the Zurich Classic.
“I think this is probably going to be one of the best chances I’ll ever have to actually win the FedEx Cup, so every point might count at the end of the day,” Lowry said. “Not only for Comcast. If I can make 100 FedEx Cup points next week, or more, it’s certainly going to help me along the way.”
It’s a big push at the end of the year with what is likely to be five straight tournaments through the Tour Championship.
Lowry says he doesn’t like chasing status, and if he had not tied for sixth at Royal Troon, he might be off this week. But he also likes knowing exactly what’s on his plate, especially with getting settled back in South Florida as 7-year-old daughter Iris prepares for school.
He has a clear idea of what he wants to do the next three weeks.
“If I can be in the top 10 going into Atlanta, I think I can give it a run,” Lowry said. “Obviously, giving Scottie Scheffler a head start, and Xander (Schauffele), is not going to be easy.”
Lowry has never made it to East Lake for the season finale in Atlanta. He was just outside the top 30 in 2019 and 2022.
Medal storage
Lydia Ko is the only player to win golf medals in two Olympics, a silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a bronze after losing a playoff in the Tokyo Games.
She just hasn’t seen them since she won them.
“I’m pretty sure the Tokyo medal is somewhere in my sister’s apartment,” Ko said. “And the Rio silver is in my dad’s closer. So they are in very treasured places — just not with me.”
And the New Zealand star is OK with that, especially the bronze.
Her sister was with her for the Tokyo Games. Their grandmother died the day Ko was leaving for Japan.
“I asked my sister, who was going to Korea from Japan, to take it back and show it to my parents and also hopefully take it to grandma’s grave. That was kind of the meaning on why it went to her place,” she said.
“My dad normally likes to keep stuff,” she said. “So I find a lot of cool things in there when I’m home, from whiskey bottles to memorabilia. That’s why he kept the Rio one.”
And what happens if she wins the gold this week?
“I’m definitely taking all of them back and I’m going to find a way to kind of present all three,” she said.
Aditi’s Journey
Aditi Ashok of India is the only player at the Olympics who played the Portland Classic last week on the LPGA Tour, a mere 5,000 miles (8,046 kilometers) away.
She was No. 76 in the Race to CME Globe, and only the top 60 qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Ashok shot 72 and tied for 22nd, moving up two spots in the standings.
And then it was off to Paris, which was no picnic.
She signed her card, packed her car and headed to the Portland, Oregon, airport for a direct overnight flight to Heathrow in London. Ashok purposely collected her bags in London and had a long layover to avoid her luggage getting lost. She re-checked them to Paris and arrived Monday evening.
One problem. By then, the accreditation at the Paris airport was closed. So she had to get to the Olympic Village to register before finally getting to her room.
Tuesday was the final day of practice before the women’s competition begins. Ashok is among 14 women playing her third Olympics. She missed out on a chance for the bronze medal by one shot at the Tokyo Games.
Pepper honored
Dottie Pepper is the latest player to be honored by the Friends of Golf with the Eddie Merrins Trophy. A 17-time winner, Solheim Cup star and for two decades a popular voice on golf television, Pepper will receive the award at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles at the annual charity event on Oct. 7.
Merrins, the longtime UCLA coach and pro at Bel-Air who died last year, helped launch Friends of Golf more than 40 years ago. It has donated more than $10 million to college and high school golf organizations.
“Eddie Merrins left his fingerprints all over our game, inspiring players and teachers to leave the game better than they found it,” Pepper said. “To be presented with this award in his name will be a constant reminder of how we can use golf’s value to make our entire world a better place.”
Curtis Cup
Hannah Darling of Scotland is the only returning Curtis Cup player for Great Britain and Ireland for the matches later this month at Sunningdale. The most important addition might be Catriona Matthew as captain. She was European captain of the Solheim Cup that beat the Americans in 2019 and 2021.
The United States last lost in 2016 in Ireland.
The GB&I team features the No. 1 amateur in women’s golf, Lottie Woad, who won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April. It also features the first sisters, Euphemie and Patience Rhodes of England, since Leona and Lisa Maguire in 2010.
The matches start Aug. 30.
Divots
The four golfers from Spain in the Paris Games all have something in common, and it didn’t take Azahara Munoz long to figure it out. Munoz and Carlota Ciganda, Jon Rahm and David Puig all went to Arizona State. … Minjee Lee and Brooke Henderson are among 14 women who are competing in the Olympics for the third time. Only four men have played all three Olympics since 2016. … The International Golf Federation’s social media team asked players to write down their goal for the week. Most players mentioned bringing home a medal. Scottie Scheffler wrote, “Have fun.” … The Olympic women’s field comes from 33 countries, the fewest in the three Olympics dating to 2016. That includes Shannon Tan, the first golfer from Singapore to compete in the Summer Games.
Stat of the week
Scottie Scheffler has won 14 times dating to his victory in the 2022 Phoenix Open. During that stretch he has won 23% of the time and has finished in the top 10 at a rate of 72%.
Final word
“I definitely think it’s better to have won something than nothing at all.” — Hideki Matsuyama after winning the bronze in Olympic men’s golf.
