Shane Lowry’s unique approach to his 1st handicapped start at the Tour Championship

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Lowry makes his Tour Championship debut and is not shying away from the different format; he is changing his perspective.

Shane Lowry comes into this week ranked No. 13 in the FedEx Cup standings. It marks the first time he made it to the first Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.

He begins the tournament at 3-under with the staggered format.

Despite never playing in this format, the Irishman likes it and understands why the PGA Tour chose to do it this way. Lowry also decided to look at the tournament differently.

“In my head, I see it as like a five-round event,” Lowry said. “I’ve got 3-under the first round, and I’m seven back of the leader, and I need to pick away at that over the four days and see where it leaves me on Sunday.”

Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Lowry does have a slight advantage because East Lake is a brand-new golf course for him. He does not have to shift his approach from how he played it before the restoration.

However, he knows what it will take to play this new Andrew Green track successfully.

“You just need to hit the fairway,” he explained. “I find it quite refreshing that you need to go out there and be on top of your game, especially off the tee. Even going into the greens from the fairways, you still need to strike the ball very well and hit the right shot shape. It’s going to take a lot of good golf to win this week.”

“I’ve never been here. I kind of like what I see. I’ve played 18 holes here the last two days. I like tough golf courses, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

This tournament is how the PGA Tour defines its season-long winner, so a challenge course is a good way to determine that. Regardless of how some players feel about the format, Lowry feels it gives guys like Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele the advantage they deserve after putting together a season like they did.

“There’s no doubt about it — Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have had the best years of anyone, and they’re far ahead of everybody else,” Lowry said. “I think [the format] it’s pretty good and worked well over the last few years. I certainly don’t deserve to come here to East Lake and start on the same score as Scottie Scheffler.”

Lowry has had a strong year on the PGA Tour. He and Rory McIlroy won the Zurich Classic together. The Irishman represented his country at the Olympics. He finished inside the top 10 six times and has 10 Top 25s. Lowry missed just two cuts all season as well.

He worked hard to get here, and now he has a chance to prove himself among the 29 other golfers in the field. This track should set up nicely for him, and seeing him do well would not be surprising.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.