Shane Lowry's belief rising as Valhalla challenge beckons

After some sluggish moments this season, the doubts were setting in for Shane Lowry.

The Offaly native struggled to find any real rhythm, before a third place in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and fourth in the Cognizant Classic seemed to kick his game into gear ahead of the Masters.

Lowry made the cut at the first major of the year at Augusta, but was well removed from the top end of the action.

"I played alright golf throughout the week, just made a lot of bogeys, a lot of bogeys. No big mistakes, nothing disastrous, just a lot of bogeys," he said after a final-round 74 saw him finish in a tie for 46th.

Yet it was the recent victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event at TPC Louisiana alongside Rory McIlroy that served as a reminder of his place among the best in the business.

It means Lowry enters the 106th US PGA Championship at Valhalla hoping to translate that growing confidence on what remains a notoriously challenging golf course.

The 2019 Open winner tees off tomorrow (6.18pm Irish time) with Jason Day and Nicolai Højgaard and says he is keen to continue his upward trend in form.

"If you look at the FedEx Cup standings, it's the best start to a season I have ever had," he told RTÉ Sport’s Greg Allen.

"I feel like my driving stats are great, my iron stats are great, my chipping is always pretty good.

"I feel if I can hole a few putts I will always be dangerous."

The recent victory in New Orleans cannot be underestimated. Aside from the winner’s cheque of $1.2m, 400 FedEx points and the extension of Lowry’s PGA Tour card through to 2026, it breathed fire back into his competitive spirit.

"As your career goes on and gets longer and longer, you have your ups and your downs. Everyone has them, you just have to get