Shane Lowry hilariously credited Scottie Scheffler for his lead at the Cognizant Classic. The Irish golfer is in contention to win this week on the PGA Tour. He took the lead in the game after 54 holes in a two-way tie with Austin Smotherman.

In the post-round press conference, Lowry was asked about his performance and his success in Florida. In response, he talked about Scheffler’s absence from the field.

“Scottie doesn’t play that much around Florida maybe,” Lowry said. “Yeah, I just like Florida golf. When I moved here at first, I hated Florida golf, the grain, Bermuda. Everything about it was tricky for me. Just from living down here and spending time down here, I’ve become better at it.”

Scottie Scheffler had not teed it up this week on the PGA Tour. He has been pretty impressive this season on the PGA Tour and will tee off next week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The world No. 1 has kick-started the season with a win at The American Express and then was tied for third place at the WM Phoenix Open. He last played at The Genesis Invitational and finished tied for 12th.

Shane Lowry sets his eyes on winning the Cognizant Classic

Shane Lowry set his sights on winning his fourth PGA Tour event. He last won a tournament in 2024 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, teaming with Rory McIlroy. This week again, Shane Lowry has had a promising outing.

He carded the opening round of 70 and then played 67 on Friday to make the cut. On Saturday, he played a bogey-free round with eight birdies and took the lead in the game. He opened up about his performance in the post-round press conference.

“My goal going out today was to get myself in the last two groups going out tomorrow,” Lowry said. “You want to be near the leaders, keep an eye on them and see what they’re doing. If the conditions are like this tomorrow, there is low scores out there, so someone could come from the pack.

“It’s not necessarily easy to lead around this golf course. There’s a lot of very difficult shots. But yeah, I’m up there where I want to be. I’ve had a few chances to win this tournament, and hopefully I can convert it tomorrow,” he added.

Shane Lowry started his campaign on the 2026 PGA Tour season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He had a good time and carded 67, 69, 67, and 67 to settle in the T8 position. He then played at The Genesis Invitational and finished in 24th place.

The final round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic is scheduled for Sunday, March 1, and it will be interesting to see how things unfold for him this week.