{"id":193466,"date":"2025-10-06T17:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T17:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/193466\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T17:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T17:04:13","slug":"lowry-steps-out-of-mcilroys-shadow-to-play-leading-man-on-biggest-stage-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/193466\/","title":{"rendered":"Lowry steps out of McIlroy\u2019s shadow to play leading man on biggest stage \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is not easy being Shane Lowry<\/a>. Such a close friendship with Rory McIlroy<\/a> means not only is sporting comparison inevitable but questions towards Lowry are routinely framed with the Northern Irishman in mind. What does Rory think, what would Rory say. Lowry takes it all in good spirit \u2013 the vast majority of the time \u2013 when he would be entitled to roll his eyes. That also applies to the rogue depiction of the hard-drinking Irishman who has a natural talent for his sport that removes a need for hard work. There are few more dedicated or serious performers than Lowry. He cares almost too much.<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s outstanding achievements in golf do not extend to what Lowry produced on Sunday. A stirring comeback from the USA had left Europe in serious danger of letting the Ryder Cup slip through a dozen pairs of hands. It was left to Lowry and a 6ft putt on the final green at Bethpage Black to ensure at least a tie. The man American fans had called a Teletubby over the Ryder Cup\u2019s earlier two days would enjoy the last, deafening laugh. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Lowry said on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Had Lowry missed, Europe were staring at sporting disaster. His team-mates were dropping like flies. If it was only natural to look at the negative, Lowry\u2019s mindset was different. He had turned to his caddie, Darren Reynolds, earlier on the 18th hole. \u201cI have a chance to do the coolest thing in my life here,\u201d Lowry told his bag man. \u201cI did it. And I\u2019m very proud of myself.\u201d On the green, Lowry thought of Martin Kaymer\u2019s converted putt, in identical circumstances for Europe, at Medinah in 2012.<\/p>\n

Lowry has an uncanny knack of being at the epicentre of storied events. He was invited to the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur and won. When the Open Championship returned to Ireland a decade later, he prevailed again. Lowry\u2019s latest moment in the sun came on the very day his brother\u2019s wife was having a baby. The golfer\u2019s father, Brendan, an All-Ireland football champion in 1982, looked on as the Bethpage putt dropped.<\/p>\n

Lowry\u2019s celebration \u2013 so euphoric and so natural \u2013 was wonderfully endearing. He had to pause for air at the end. And to think, Shane once dreamed of following in Brendan\u2019s sporting footsteps. He was instead destined to shine on a global stage.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How ultimate team player Shane Lowry delivered Ryder Cup when the chips were downOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The plan did not involve it all coming down to Lowry, of course. He was in match eight of 11 Sunday singles. Europe started the session needing only two points to retain the cup. Yet the very point of putting Lowry \u2013 plus Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre \u2013 at the base of the draw was just in case their games were needed. \u201cI didn\u2019t envision myself going up the 18th needing a birdie to retain the Ryder Cup,\u201d Lowry admitted. \u201cIt was the worst two hours of my life. It was horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Provincial rivals get a head start on Leinster<\/p>\n

There was also an element of redemption. Lowry had yearned to play in the Ryder Cup before receiving a wild card pick for Whistling Straits in 2021. His debut, in partnership with McIlroy, involved a heavy defeat against Tony Finau and Harris English. Lowry lost in the singles against Patrick Cantlay as the USA inflicted a record defeat on Europe. Much is made of McIlroy\u2019s tears in Wisconsin but Lowry was similarly distraught. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how long I play, for the rest of my career I\u2019ll want to be part of this team,\u201d Lowry said at the time. Through a subsequent changing of the guard, Lowry has remained part of the European group who have won back-to-back cups.<\/p>\n

\"ShaneShane Lowry and Rory McIlroy celebrate victory on the 18th green after defeating Team United States 15-13. Photograph: Richard Heathcote\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Lowry is hugely respected among his European team-mates. He has influence and fuels camaraderie way beyond the golf course. He is a great storyteller, quick-witted and does a fine line in self-deprecation. The 38\u2011year\u2011old is fiercely loyal, not least towards McIlroy. Lowry is in fact central to everything that makes Europe so successful as a team; everything the USA cannot seem to get quite right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of Shane,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful to have him in my life. Honestly, he put his arm around me on Saturday afternoon and he was a big reason we won that point. He has been immense this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Shane\u2019s third Ryder Cup and it is his best performance, absolutely immense. What Shane did will stay with [him] for the rest of his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s assessment, as ever, is spot on. He was clearly tired during the four-ball session on day two when Lowry stepped forward. It needn\u2019t always be the Rory show. The big brother he never had helped out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think back to the Irish greats in the game, they have all holed putts to win the Ryder Cup and I got my moment,\u201d Lowry added, in reference to Eamonn Darcy, Philip Walton, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke. Lowry is proud of his heritage and his homeland.<\/p>\n

Thoughts will turn inevitably towards how Lowry might build on this. He has the ability to add to his solitary major success. In two years\u2019 time, he will be back on Team Europe at Adare Manor. He is a future captain in waiting. But that big picture can wait. MacIntyre revealed he and Lowry planned to vanish into New York. It will prove impossible for either to remain invisible. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is not easy being Shane Lowry. Such a close friendship with Rory McIlroy means not only is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,1976,13261,1973,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-193466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-rory-mcilroy","12":"tag-ryder-cup","13":"tag-shane-lowry","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}