Shane Lowry plans to work on his drives after an encouraging start to the Irish Open.

The Offaly man, who won the tournament in 2009, shot a 66 that leaves him on a strong 4-under.

He spoke to Nathan Murphy after that opening round at Lahinch.

"It was one of my more enjoyable four or five hours on the course," he said.

"I played OK and I don't think I felt like I played great. But I hit it in the right spots. I managed my way around the golf course well and that's what I'm happy about."

Lowry pointed to his driving from the tee as the area he's hoping to improve on for Round 2.

Mentality Change

"I didn't hit as many fairways as I would've liked. But then again, I stood up and I rifled one down the last when you really need to. So that was quite nice to finish on that one," he said.

"I did say to Dara, my caddie, on the last green that we'll hit a few drivers before we go home this afternoon."

He also spoke about how his form-boosted confidence is helping deal with on-course challenges.

Shane Lowry has put himself in a good position heading into his final couple of holes in Lehinch. We’re live from the course from 7 this evening. pic.twitter.com/vSYeSKfV0Z

— Off The Ball (@offtheball) July 4, 2019

"I'm not going to get down on myself for hitting bad shots or putting myself in bad places," he said.

"I just have to go down and find my ball and hopefully it's a half-decent lie and move on with it from there.

"That's the way I've been playing golf over the last few months and it seems to be working. So I hope I keep doing that."

You can watch Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell's post-round reactions above.