Shane Lowry is ready to get back on the horse and bid for Spanish Open glory this week, but he admits holing that magical Ryder Cup putt ranks alongside winning The Open as his greatest achievement.
Speaking at Madrid’s Club de Campo, where he will play alongside his Ryder Cup “brother” Jon Rahm and defending champion Angel Hidalgo, the Offaly ace confessed that coming back from such a high will be difficult.
“It’s such a huge high and when you do something like last week, I’m not going to lie and say it’s not difficult,” Lowry told the Spanish golf portal TenGolf.com.
“It can be difficult to come back to play normal golf, regular tournaments on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, but it’s something that I’ve experienced in the past and that I’m sure I’ll be able to deal with pretty well.
“At the end of the day, as a golfer, you’re a competitor. So no matter what tournament I’m playing, I want to be the best version of myself.”
As for where his Ryder Cup moment ranks, he put it right up there with winning The 2019 Open at Royal Portrush.
“Honestly, with how much I built it up in my head and with how much I’d worked towards that week at Bethpage, I feel like the way it panned out, selfishly for me, to get to hole that putt, I think it was as big as The Open.
“I say I’m very lucky to have achieved what I have in the game, but to have that alongside it, it’s incredible.”
After spending a week celebrating in Florida, where he “got through a few bottles of wine and champagne” with Rory McIlroy and captain Luke Donald, he feels now that the six-footer he made to ensure Europe would retain the trophy will be something he will be telling his grandchildren about long after he’s retired.
“I think it’s probably one of the most memorable weeks I’ll ever have,” Lowry said. “The way it panned out on Sunday, I’ll look back on that for the rest of my life.
“When I’m a lot older and I’ve got grandkids, I’ll be telling them stories about that Sunday at Bethpage. It was a very, very memorable week for a lot of reasons.”
As for the putt itself, he was proud all his preparation paid off and he was able to roll it in.
“I knew how big it was at the time,” he said. “Obviously, Russell (Henley) has a chance to beat me, a chance to hole his putt. You’re watching him, hoping he’s going to miss. But in the meantime, you’re trying to read your own putt and trying to get ready.
“But until he missed, you can’t get fully into it. So when he missed, I started to just get into my routine.
“We talked a lot in the weeks leading up to it about how difficult it is in that kind of atmosphere. That’s when it becomes so big.
“And I felt like I dealt with it pretty well. Obviously, I holed the putt, so I did deal with it well, but it was very nerve-racking. It was probably one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do on the golf course was to try and hole that putt. But thankfully, I went in.”
As for the post-Ryder Cup celebrations, Lowry admitted that he went at it “pretty hard.”
He said: “We had a good few days. We obviously had a good night with all the team. Then we went back to Florida, and I met up with Luke and Rory a couple of times last week and we got through a few bottles of wine and champagne. So I was good.”
The Clara man admitted that getting back into playing mode has been a challenge, but he’s ready to move on this week and in next week’s DP World India Championship, where he will be joined by European teammates McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland.
“What happened over a week ago in New York was obviously amazing,” he said, “Obviously, we celebrated last week. It was a real high, and then a come down. But obviously, I’m back to tournament golf this week, and I have to get myself back up tomorrow and back at it and try and compete.
“This is a big national championship with a lot of history, so it’d be nice to get myself up there this week. I was very fortunate to achieve what I did a couple of weeks ago, but when that all finishes, you are looking forward to the future.
“Madrid is an amazing place and a great tournament and I had already committed to coming, so I feel honoured to fulfil my commitments.
“I’m happy to be here. It’s nice to get back on the horse so quickly, rather than sitting at home thinking about it all.
“It’s nice to get back out and playing some golf. And, you know, I always say it’s amazing to achieve things.
“When that’s all over, you are only looking to the future, and you’re looking to weeks like this and next week, and moving on with your career too.”
He enjoyed playing nine holes in the pro-am with Spanish tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz, admitting: “It was very cool… To spend a couple of hours with him out there was pretty nice. I said to him, his golf wasn’t amazing, but it was better than my tennis.
“I actually played tennis last week for the first time in years, but very badly after the Ryder Cup.”
Lowry admitted he has a special relationship with some of the great Spanish players, with Rahm and vice-captain José María Olazábal at the top of the list.
“Honestly, José Maria Olazábal is the greatest man I’ve ever met,” he said. “The week of the Ryder Cup, I can’t say enough about him. But I will say the hardest thing about my putt on 18 on the Sunday was that I looked over and José Maria was sitting on the front of the green crying.
“So it felt like a lot of pressure when he is there. Obviously all he’s thinking about is Seve and everything that’s happened and to have him there and give me a hug when I holed that putt is incredible.
“And the relationship I’ve built with Jon over the years, Bethpage brought us closer. We’re like brothers, and I think that’s what was amazing about the whole week.”
