Shane Lowry jokingly describes himself as the “ironman” of golf, but the world number 20 showed he has plenty of Teflon qualities too, when asked about the possibility of LIV Golf rebels remaining eligible for Ryder Cup selection for Rome.

There are still a few weeks before a three-member arbitration panel gives its verdict on the DP World Tour’s ability to enforce its ‘conflicting event’ release clause.

“I can’t sit here and say whether I think they should or shouldn’t because the way it is now, I could be on the team with one or two of them or multiple of them in September,” said Lowry, who took a swipe a LIV Golf when he won last year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, describing it as “one for the good guys” having said earlier that week, “there are certain guys I just can’t stand them being here.”

“The way it is now, they’re eligible to make the team, and if they play well enough, they’ll make the team. So it’s a very interesting time, obviously,” Lowry said ahead of the Honda Classic. “I don’t know whether they should or they shouldn’t. That’s just kind of the way I am now. But even if I had an opinion, I can’t really say because if I’m a part of the team and then there’s bad blood there, it doesn’t bode well for the team.

“I’m all about Team Europe and the Ryder Cup, and I’ll do everything in my power to be a part of something that will be special in September. Whether there is lads involved in it or not, if we’re standing there with the Ryder Cup trophy on Sunday, I’ll be a happy, happy man.”

Lowry, joined at PGA National by two-time winner Pádraig Harrington, is focused on building on last week’s tie for 14th in the Genesis Invitational.

He’s also looking to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish to Sepp Straka after a fraught start to the season.

Not only did he lose all four matches in the Hero Cup, he blew up down the stretch at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and split with his caddie of four-and-a-half years after the first of back-to-back missed cuts in the Dubai Desert Classic.

“Yeah, last year’s runner-up finish was obviously very disappointing,” said Lowry, who credited the arrival of coach Neil Manchip at Riviera as the key to turning his form around after the shock of another missed cut in Phoenix. “But I remember it kind of kick-started a nice consistent run of golf for me, and I played well going into the Masters then and stuff like that. It gave me a lot of confidence for the year ahead.”

With 17 of the world’s top 20 resting, Lowry is the third highest-ranked player in the field.

“I’m like the ironman of golf,” he said. “This is my third of five in a row. Then I played three before that, so I’m playing eight out of nine weeks to start my season. I feel like Sungjae Im.”

He knows he can win the Honda Classic and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell is also confident ahead of the Challenge Tour’s Nelson Mandela Bay Championship at Humewood Golf Club with Ruaidhri McGee and Paul Dunne, who makes his 2023 debut.

Leona Maguire, meanwhile, is in action in the $1.7 million Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club.

Indian Open,

Live, Sky Sports, Golf, 7.30am

The Honda Classic,

Live, Sky Sports Golf, 1.30pm