Shane Lowry caddie change hit at the Travelers Championship, where the 39-year-old split from Darren Reynolds and reunited with Dermot Byrne. The move came after Lowry missed the US Open cut by two shots and left him facing another week with a different man on the bag.
Lowry had been blunt about the US Open. After falling short at Shinnecock Hills, he said golf is just not agreeing with him at the moment and added, “I feel like there’s something missing, but I don’t know what is, and it’s pretty hard [to take]. But what can you do?”
Shane Lowry and Darren Reynolds
Reynolds had worked with Lowry since he parted ways with Bo Martin in 2023. This week in Connecticut, Lowry changed again and linked back up with Byrne, who caddied for him during the first decade of his career.
The switch landed at the PGA Tour’s last $20 million Signature Event of the season. That puts the bag change into the same week as one of the biggest stops left on the schedule, with Lowry trying to reset after the US Open.
Dermot Byrne in Connecticut
Lowry’s comments after the US Open show why the move happened so quickly. “I’m not enjoying it. I didn’t have any fun this week. It’s been hard. It’s not like I’m shooting 85. Two 73s is not great, but it’s here and there, a couple of shots and, all of a sudden, I’m shooting good scores,” he said after missing the cut.
He also said, “I’d love to know what’s going on and I’m beating my head against a brick wall, because honestly, I know I missed a couple of short putts this week, but that’s these poa annua greens this week. I felt like I rolled the ball pretty well. I felt like I did a lot of things well, and I’m going home Friday evening.”
After the Travelers
Lowry told Golfweek, “We’ll see what the plan is going forward” and “No idea really.” For now, the practical answer is simple: Byrne is on the bag at the Travelers Championship, Lowry will return home to Ireland after the event, and then he heads to the Genesis Scottish Open. Whether the split from Reynolds is temporary or permanent is not answered yet.
