Offaly hurling celebrations left Shane Lowry homesick in Canada

FAITHFUL FAN: Golfer and Offaly supporter Shane Lowry, right, during the closing stages of the 2021 Eirgrid GAA Football All-Ireland U20 Championship final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile

One shot was all that separated Shane Lowry from a missed cut at last week’s Canadian Open and an early exit from the course in Hamilton would have left the Irishman stuck between a rock and a hard place given events closer to home.

Lowry’s love for his county is legendary and Offaly’s presence in an U20 All-Ireland hurling final against Tipperary in Nowlan Park on the Saturday evening would have been a tempting lure for a man deep in the middle of major season across the pond.

“I knew there was a flight that [Friday] night but I don't know if I'd have done it or not,” he explained from Muirfield Village in Ohio where a stacked field will contest this week’s Memorial Tournament.

“There was a direct flight to Dublin from Toronto, but yeah, I'm not sure I would have pulled the trigger. We have got a big week this week and the US Open next week. Ah, possibly, but I'm not sure!” 

His struggles in those opening rounds last Thursday and Friday did at least allow him to start earlier on the Saturday and catch a live stream of events in Kilkenny. He finished his second round at 2.10pm local time. The match threw in five minutes later.

“I finished like I planned to play bad on purpose the first two days,” he laughed.

There was no hanging around. The first-half was taken in on his phone on the way out of the course. He watched the second-half from his hotel room and of course he was wearing his Offaly jersey as he sat there on his bed.

“Well, I wasn't sitting much. I was jumping around the place like an eejit.” A six-point win for the Faithful county prompted incredible scenes on the pitch afterwards, as the hordes descended from the stands, and later on that evening and the next day as a county starved of GAA success in recent years embraced the joy and the giddiness.

“I was homesick that day and homesick the next day. The team went back to Tullamore and they were in my bar and all my friends were there, my mother and father were there, and you're getting pictures from home.

“It's great for Offaly hurling, great for those young lads. Great for Michael Duignan, Lee O'Connor and all those lads. I was very proud of what they've done. We have a long way to go to catch the big teams but they showed that we are certainly on the way.”