Shane Lowry says he moved to calm a potential players’ boycott during the initial angry responses to the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Players were left with feelings of betrayal after the stunning U-turn by the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan – who is currently away from his post due to a medical problem.
Monahan faced a furious meeting with players at the RBC Canadian Open in the immediate aftermath of the deal, where some members called for him to resign. According to Lowry, there was even talk of a players’ strike to make their point, but the 2019 Open champion said he spoke up at this point to calm proceedings and prevent any knee-jerk reactions.
"I was like, right lads, let’s take a chill for a minute here,” Lowry told RTE Sport’s Greg Allen.
"RBC have been a great sponsor to the Tour and to us. That’s not going to do anything for anybody doing that, so let’s just go out and do our jobs which is what we are here to do, and everything else will take care of itself."
Lowry added that he didn't do much media last week as he simply had no answers to the inevitable questions about the PGA Tour deal - much like many of his fellow pros: "I stayed quiet enough last week," Lowry added. "I didn’t do much media because I actually have no answers to any questions because I just don’t know.
"We don’t really know what is going on anymore. We don’t know what deal the PGA Tour have signed up for. I’ve said this all along, but the only thing you can do as a golfer is worry about yourself and play golf."
Lowry says he feels pretty good about tackling Los Angeles Country Club, and wants to just concentrate on getting into contention for a second Major as he feels he knows how to convert.
"It’s going to be difficult, but there are chances there on the front nine, not many on the back nine," added Lowry. "The way I look at it is, on weeks like this, if I put myself within touching distance of the leaders on Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning going into the final round, that would be a somewhat successful week for me.
"My thing is to get myself into contention, if I can do that, I feel I have what it takes to do it. Often times, in tournaments like this, the hardest part is actually getting yourself there."
