“If you’d have told me then I was going to have a six or seven footer to retain the Ryder Cup in one of the last matches out on Sunday, I probably would have gotten a car and gone to JFK, and gone home. Honestly, I did not want that at all.
“And even on Sunday, when you’re going out, you’re kind of hopeful that, I hope it gets done early and I win my point, but like, I’m swanning around the back nine with no pressure.
“But now I look back on it, and I’m like, that was one of the best things I’ve ever done, you know what I mean? So you have to live the pressure to enjoy it afterwards.
“But as it’s all happening, it’s absolutely miserable, like it’s horrible.”
Lowry’s victory jig on the 18th, dubbed over with Mícheál Ó hEithir’s iconic commentary on Darby’s All-Ireland winning goal, went viral on social media that Sunday night in New York.
“I know, it’s funny, and the celebration is pretty similar,” Lowry said with a big grin. “The celebration was just pure. I’m sure it was like Seamus Darby, when he scored that goal, he didn’t know what to do with himself. I was the same.”
Lowry doesn’t like to speak publicly about too many lofty goals, but he’s convinced that he’s got a lot more to achieve as he continues to get better and fitter after losing 15kg (two stones) since the 2021 Ryder Cup.
“Yeah, I’m not stupid,” said the Clara man, who weighs in now as a lean and mean 99kg machine, admitting that being friends with someone like Rory McIlroy only makes him work harder with strength and conditioning coach Robbie Cannon.
“Like, I’m 39 in April, so I’m not getting any younger, but I do feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, and I feel like my game is as good as it’s ever been. So I feel like there are still some of my best years ahead of me.
“I feel like if I can get to 45 still at a competitive level, I’ve done very, very well. I’ve done 17 years on tour now, it’s a long, long time.
“That’s a long career in a sport. And I feel like if I can get up to 20, 21, 22 years at a high level, I’ve had a really, really good career.”
Bar the Ryder Cup, he didn’t lift a trophy this year, but he knows that while the Ryder Cup makes that anecdotal, he’s determined to get back in that winner’s circle.
