Sunday at Bethpage may be remembered as one of the defining moments of Shane Lowry’s golfing life as he holed the crucial putt to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe on US soil. But the Offaly man has fond memories of the closing day in New York for another reason — the belligerent, boorish American abuse he’d experienced on the opening two days suddenly went quiet, perhaps because Rory McIlroy was no longer alongside him.
Lowry partnered close friend and European team leader McIlroy during the Friday and Saturday sessions on Long Island in September as the Holywood man came in for shameful treatment and intense personal abuse from the galleries. The Irish duo reached a breaking point during a stoic, stunning Saturday fourball victory when they gave some of the loudmouth Americans plenty of f-bombs back in response.
Reflecting on the experience in a sitdown with Patrick Kielty on Friday night’s Late Late Show, Lowry joked that his quieter run through the Bethpage gauntlet on Sunday may have been due to McIlroy being elsewhere.
“It was pretty bad. I think we were ready for what was going to happen but until you’re in that situation you don’t actually realise what it’s going to be like,” Lowry said. “Some of the stuff that was said was not very nice but Rory and I definitely used it as fuel. It motivated us to go out and win. I don’t think it helped the Americans much at all. I played the first two days with Rory and then I noticed on the Sunday, when I was playing my [solo] match, I didn’t get as much abuse — which was quite nice. But he had to deal with a lot of stuff over those days.”
The bond between Lowry and McIlroy was never clearer than amid the firestorm of vitriol during the Saturday clash with Justin Thomas and Cam Young. The pair’s closeness has been more and more evident in recent years with Lowry paying a glowing tribute to McIlroy after his year of years.
“We’ve become very close over the last number of years. Our wives are really good friends. Our kids are similar ages, they hang out together. We live very close to each other in Florida. We play a lot of golf together and sit around in the evenings, going to each other’s houses for BBQs. It’s a nice relationship to have,” added Lowry.
“I count myself fortunate to be good friends with one of the greatest players that’s ever played the game. I get to watch him do his thing, and I think it drives me on to be a better golfer.”
Lowry revealed that he, wife Wendy and daughters, eight-year-old Iris and four-year-old Ivy, had returned to Ireland from the States on Thursday and his little ones were spending this Friday night watching a recording of the previous week’s Late Late Toy Show.
During that show, host Kielty had introduced a six-year-old Lowry megafan called Declan Ryan who wowed the crowds by chipping golf balls into his old training potty. Lowry had a video message for the young Cork fan last week and a gift of tickets to the Irish Open. But a week on the Open champion went one better and met Declan in the flesh. He also managed to successfully match Declan’s chipping routine.
“Practice hard, never stop enjoying it and follow your dreams,” Lowry told the smitten fan.
