Shane Lowry says PGA Tour and DP World Tour players got "sidetracked" into thinking $100m in prizemoney is normal following the emergence of LIV Golf.
However Lowry believes that the plan outlined by PGA chiefs last year will provide a sustainable future for those who decided to stay put and not join the controversial Saudi-backed operation fronted by Greg Norman.
“So, I think what's happened in the last year or so, we've got sidetracked into thinking that 20 million or 100 million is just normal and that's what we should be playing for and that's what we're worth - and that, if we are playing for two or three million on this Tour, that is not enough,” said the Clara man, who is a new member of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council.
Referring to the DP World Tour, Lowry added: “I still think that this Tour has grown.
"With the PGA Tour alliance and prize-money guaranteed to grow over the next 13 years every year, I think that's good for the Tour.
"I think it's sustainable, which is the big thing. I think having a sustainable product is something that you need to have, and I do think this Tour has that.
“Like I said, I think we got side-tracked into thinking that $100 million is just normal. Everybody is throwing out these figures that are just astronomical.
“Could this Tour be better? Yeah, obviously, we could all be better in anything that we do. But, with a steady growth over the next number of years, I do think this Tour will keep improving.
“Look, as a group of players on the DP World Tour, it's up to us to pass the Tour on to the next generation and it’s the same on the PGA Tour.
“I think that's what's important for golf over the next while, and that's why I'm happy to be involved in the PAC and I'm quite passionate about where golf is going and what's right for the game over the next while.”
Lowry was speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first of two back to back Rolex Series events in the UAE. It comes after a disappointing week for him personally in the Hero Cup, where he failed to register a point in the matchplay event between GB&I and Continental Europe.
However he will fancy his chances of a quick turnaround in form this week at a venue where he won in 2019.
“I felt like I played all right last week, actually, and I need to make sure that I don't lose too much confidence in the results and think about the results too much because I think if you look at my game and look at my scoring, I was actually OK,” he insisted.
“So I need to take that into this week and come here - I played well here last year. I was in the last group with Thomas (Pieters) on Sunday. Didn't perform as best I could, but, you know, put myself there.
“I felt like I was in the team room, the team environment, and I wanted to really win for my team. It was a nice week to kick start the year. Obviously, the result was not what I would have liked, but yeah, everything about the week was amazing and the Tour did a great job.
"There are certain points of the week where I felt like if I was a little bit better, I would have won a couple of matches; and if I win two matches out of the four instead of losing the four of them, we win the tournament or tie, anyway.
“I was disappointed with myself on Sunday evening. Not that I feel like I let the team down because you get into a team environment and you say, right, there's no ‘sorrys’ this week. Everyone gives 100 per cent and does the best they can and I feel like I did that.
“Yeah, if I had won a couple of matches last week, yeah, things obviously would have been different.
"I feel like I learned a lot last week, actually. I really did, about myself and about even playing some team golf. Hopefully, I can use that if I'm there in September.
“I think we'll all be happy if we're there on the 18th green in September with that little gold trophy.
“Hopefully, we are standing there or we are in the team room Sunday night in Rome going, 'you know what, the Hero Cup had a big part to play in the success of this Ryder Cup Team'.”
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