Shane Lowry has joined a number of Europe’s top players feeling short changed by the effectiveness of the European Tour’s Final Four Series points system.
Lowry teed up on the opening day of the Turkish Airlines Open flying high at 15th on the Race to Dubai money list and the assurance of his best-ever season in five years competing on the Tour.
However after posting an opening round 70 to be lying seven shots behind near 51-year Miguel Angel Jimenez, the Carton House pro has questioned if all his hard work in 23 prior events before the start of the Series a fortnight ago in Shanghai could be all worth it.
The Tour brought in new Final Series guidelines on October 24th and a week prior to the start of the 2014 ‘Play Offs’ but it took most players by surprise.
But it wasn’t to Germany’s Marcel Siem jumped from 53rd on the Race to Dubai and to 4th place on the back on his BMW Masters success that players started to take notice.
Shane Lowry finding himself being left short-changed by Tour’s new Play Off points system. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)
However the controversy lies in the fact it was not the prize money of some Euro 800,000 that was added to Siem’s money list but the 1.66m points, and with each of the four Final Series offering a breakdown of 10m points and 1.66m points to each of the four winners.
As such, Siem now boasts season-earnings this year of Euro 2,190,093 on the Tour’s website when in reality the figure should be closer to Euro 1,415,000 as his cash-in-hand prize in Shanghai was roughly Euro 850,000.
Siem then should be lying around 17th on the money list and not a lofty fourth with the assurance now of easily his best season plus automatic entry into next year’s Open Championship and 2015 WGCs.
“I am like many guys as I didn’t know about the changes to the points system until a few weeks ago,” Lowry said.
“But then in looking at this new system I have made decent cheques and moved backwards these last two weeks and maybe that shouldn’t happen.
“I’ve never played the FedEx Cup but I can see the system is kind of similar.
“However when we were in Shanghai for the BMW Masters, I thought to myself if Alex Levy wins then he could jump to second in the Race to Dubai.
“So it does give someone who is having an average year the chance to win the Race to Dubai but then for someone like me who is had a very good consistent year with a lot of good finishes then it is strange someone like Marcel (Siem) who won the BMW could win the Race to Dubai.”
Lowry was left in the departure lounge after bogeying three of his opening four holes before the losing a ball up a tree on his seventh hole.
He made the turn in two over par but then bounced back with four birdies in a row from his 10th hole to sign for a two under par 70 and a share of 34th in the 78-player field.
“I was nearly headless around that time after what happened at seven, and thinking to myself this could be a long week,” he said.
“It was just a strange start and it is kind of the way my golf has been the last couple of weeks. I felt a bit flat at the start and I fought back well heading into my back nine, so I didn’t lie down.
“I said to Dermot (caddy) after walking off the 18th which was my ninth that we are here so we might as well try and do our best, so to then birdie the next four was nice and to finish two under par is pretty respectable.”
And Lowry ruled the continuing pressure of trying to break into the world’s top-50 as any excuse for the player who is currently ranked 51st in the world.
“No, I can’t use that as an excuse and it’s just for some reason I have been showing a lack of concentration at times,” he said.
“You just need to drive the ball straight around here and I only managed to do that over the closing few holes.
“Overall it’s been a long season and I’ve played too much this year and played two small events that I think now I should not have played.
“So I will learn ahead of next year and try to get my schedule a bit better organised.”
