World number 27 Shane Lowry said he has learned from his near miss at this year's US Open and predicted a strong Irish challenge as he looked ahead to the 145th Open Championship at Troon in Scotland on Wednesday (13th July).

SOUNDBITE: (English) Shane Lowry, Ireland:

(On finishing tied for second place at the 2016 US Open after leading the field going into the final day)

"I've played sort of 54 holes of the best golf of my life, and I played okay for the next nine and then just the back nine on Sunday, I let it slip a little bit. But if you look for three-and-a-half rounds I was kind of up there and leading in one of the biggest tournaments in the world. So it can give you a bit of confidence going forward into this week, as well as just up to myself and manage the expectation of it all."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Shane Lowry, Ireland:

(On his reaction to the disappointment of missing out on the US Open title and learning from the experience)

"The first few days the Monday, Tuesday afterwards was not easy. You know, I was obviously quite disappointed, and I'm not going to lie, there was a few moments where there might have been a tear shed or two. That's just the way it is. That's the game we play. I know I'll be back there. I know I'll give myself a chance again. It's just up to me to kind of learn from the mistakes of that Sunday afternoon and bring that into the next one."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Shane Lowry, Ireland:

(On the front runners at this year's Open Championship and the strength of the Irish chalenge)

"Yeah, as far as obviously Rory is one of the favourites, so there's obviously a chance of him winning. Graeme's (Graeme McDowell) been playing okay. He had a good week, decent week last week both on his back nine on Sunday. And Padraig is Padraig (Padraig Harrington), if he gets himself in there with a sniff, you never know what can happen. I'm obviously playing okay. There is no reason why we can't or there can't be an Irish winner on Sunday, I think. We've got a strong challenge here this week. We're obviously used to the conditions that this course is going to throw. Yeah, there's no reason why not. I just hope it's me."