‘We always called him the birdie man’

His success in the WGC Bridgestone Invitiational has made Shane Lowry a bona fide star of world golf, but followers of the European Tour will remember when he burst onto the scene in 2009, winning the Irish Open as an amateur at Baltray.

Before that, he enjoyed a phenomenal year on the amateur scene, winning the North of Ireland, the West of Ireland and the Mullingar Scratch Cup — and before all that again, he was just “The Birdie Man” to the Lowry family.

Shane’s uncle Seán is one of the best known of the three Lowry brothers that lined out for Offaly in the 1970s and 1980s, in no small part because of the memorable scene when the final whistle sounded at the end of the 1982 final, when Seán Lowry ran towards the crowd with his huge hands wrapped around the match ball.