SHANE LOWRY WANTS to use his Open Championship hurt to fuel his dream of winning an Olympic medal for Ireland.

After playing his way into a two-shot lead after 36 holes, Lowry’s hopes were blown off course on the back nine on Saturday in brutal conditions at Royal Troon.

Before that damaging third-round 77, the Clara native had visions of returning to next year’s Open at Royal Portrush, scene of his 2019 triumph, as the defending champion.

And though he fought his way back to within one shot of the lead in a defiant early start to his final round on Sunday, he ultimately had to settle for sixth place, five shots behind winner Xander Schauffele.

“It was a tough evening yesterday evening,” Lowry reflected. “Sat around the club here for a while, went home pretty late, had some dinner, had some good chats with the people that are in my house.

“I just wanted to go out and give myself a chance today.

“I promised Neil [Manchip, his coach] I’d do one thing and go out and fight for every shot, and that’s what I did today. Unfortunately, it’s not good enough, and it’s very disappointing. There’s no two ways about it.

“I had a great chance of winning this Open, and it’s going to hurt for a few days. But onwards and upwards and onto the Olympics and try to win a medal for Ireland and get on from there then.”

In spite of the disappointment, Lowry said that he will take positives from his performance this week.

“How could you not look back on it positively, a chance to win The Open? Obviously the critics and whatnot will say that I probably should have won from where I was yesterday afternoon, but it’s not easy out there. It’s not easy to win tournaments like this.

“I did everything I could. Unfortunately, I came up short. Hopefully over the next five to ten years I give myself another few chances in tournaments like this and get one more.

“Like I said at the start of the week, all I want is one more.”

The Open’s return to Royal Portrush, where he had six shots to spare over the rest of the field in 2019, will certainly afford him another shot at Major glory in 2025.

“Look, honestly all week, the way I was playing, I thought I’m going to be going back to Portrush with the Claret Jug as well. That could be pretty cool. I was very confident with how I was playing this week.

“I’m sure going back to Portrush will have its challenges next year for me with some demands and people are going to be talking about me a little bit more than they were in 2019. But, yeah, I’ll go back, and I’ll enjoy it.

“Who knows between now and then what’s going to happen. We have a lot of good golf to play. Hopefully I’ll be going back, you never know, as an Olympic medalist or a Major champion or something. That would be pretty cool.”