Shane Lowry has put his Cognizant Classic nightmare into perspective thanks to his daughter, his big mate Rory McIlroy and a famous Irish sports star.
Two late double bogeys cost Lowry his first individual title since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship, and he admits he lost sleep over those mistakes at PGA National last Sunday night.
Lowry did not have long to stew over such a stinging loss though as he was back in action the very next day - playing in the prestigious Seminole Pro-Member tournament on Monday.
The 2019 Open champion also said he was fortunate to have a "great support network around me" which had helped him to try and process such a bad loss ahead of a swift PGA Tour return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"I had some amazing people reach out to me over the 24 hours after that," Lowry told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.
"I got one particular phone call from an Irish sportsperson who I really admire, and he was very, very kind to me."
Along with famous sports stars, Lowry got a lesson in perspective from his nine-year-old daughter Iris.
"It was my daughter's birthday yesterday, and I took her to Starbucks on the way to school," Lowry said at Bay Hill.
"Speaking to people over the last few days it's like someone had passed away. When they see me they're afraid to talk to me."Shane Lowry reflects on his Cognizant Classic finish with @chantel_mccabe🔊https://t.co/Djnk3jsbyS | @SiriusXMSports pic.twitter.com/wCwHL4xiX3March 4, 2026
"And we were sitting there, and a friend of mine came over to the car, and honestly, speaking to people over the last few days, it’s like someone had passed away.
"And my daughter just turned around, and she goes, ‘Dad, why is everyone acting so sad that you finished second? Like, second’s good.’
"So, yeah, a little bit of perspective there. She's like, ‘It's not like you finished last'."
McIlroy offers Lowry hope for the season
Lowry also has his great golfing buddie Rory McIlroy to lean on as well, with the five-time Major champion remarkably having suffered the very same fate at PGA National when he double bogeyed the 16th to lose the Honda Classic in 2014.
And the new Grand Slam winner says he's reminded Lowry of that fact - and that he went on to win two Majors that same year, so he can't let two bad swings ruin what could still be a fine season.
"I played golf with him on Monday morning. He was fine. He was in good spirits," said McIlroy ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"I reminded him, I double bogeyed the 16th at PGA National in 2014 to lose the tournament. And I went on to win two Majors that year.
The morning after Shane Lowry fell short @The_Cognizant, Rory McIlroy had a message for his longtime friend. pic.twitter.com/0xKShhiQ1EMarch 5, 2026
"So I was trying to, yeah, like, look, it's one event, it was two bad holes, two bad swings. It doesn't mean that the rest of the year's going to be bad.
"Again, I had a horrible finish there in 2014 and ended up going on to have one of the best years of my career. So I just reminded him of that."
Lowry will also be hoping to draw inspiration from Tommy Fleetwood, who had that long winless run on the PGA Tour finally come to an end last season with a huge win at the Tour Championship.
Fleetwood had some big losses along the way, notably losing a lead to Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship and also faltering late on when leading the FedEx St Jude Championship.
But, much like McIlroy's mantra when chasing that elusive fifth Major for over a decade, Lowry knows he has to just "keep putting myself there" in search of a tournament win.
And he still feels that at PGA National he played "some of the best golf of my whole career" adding "I felt so in control out there" until "one bad swing took it all away from me."
Lowry will hope that his form holds to get into contention again, when he'll look to avoid making the same mistakes as at PGA National.
