One can imagine the Lowry family Christmas dinner table in Clara isn’t short of a sporting tale or two and Shane can give it both barrels after admitting that his famous Ryder Cup putt last week in Bethpage Black ranks alongside his 2019 Open Championship triumph.
Four of Europe’s winning team were back in action across both sides of the Atlantic last week while Lowry and Rahm are back to the day job at the Spanish Open and the Offaly man admits that he might struggle to adjust to the come down in Madrid.
“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.”
Lowry only does big moments in his career it seems. Whether it be the 2019 Open or standing over a six footer with an historic away victory on the line in a Ryder Cup.
The 38-year-old might not have the volume of victories on his CV that his talent suggests he should but he has a highlights reel fit to rival the greats of the game.
“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.”
“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.”
Lowry also admitted that the significance of what he had the chance to achieve in his singles match with Russell Henley was not lost on him.
“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.”
Lowry went viral on social media for his boisterous celebrations and while Tommy Fleetwood admitted he ditched the party early, there is no doubt that the former went hard at it long into the night.
“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.”
As for competing at the Spanish Open this week. This is the first of back to back events on the DP World Tour for Lowry who will take in the Indian Championship in his bid to make the top-70 on the Race to Dubai Rankings and qualify for the two season-ending events in Dubai.
Lowry is a lowly 154th in the rankings and a first win since the 2022 BMW PGA Championship would be just the ticket.
“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.”
