'I hope it goes ahead, with crowds' - Shane Lowry reveals who his ideal Ryder Cup partner is

In Shane Lowry’s ideal world, the Ryder Cup will take place in September with crowds packing the stands at Whistling Straits, and he will not only be in Padraig Harrington’s European Ryder Cup team but partnered by Rory McIlroy.

For now, though, the Open champion can only wait for the green light to return to competition so he can resume his bid to make the 2020 team, global pandemic permitting.

The 2020 Ryder Cup matches between the United States and defending champions Europe are still on schedule to be played from September 25-28 in Wisconsin but discussions are underway about the possibility of playing the biennial event behind closed doors if the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc with public health on both sides of the Atlantic.

Currently under lockdown at his house in Palm Beach, Florida, the Irishman revealed friend and world number one McIlroy would be his ideal Ryder Cup playing partner but the hero of Royal Portrush last July acknowledged there would have to be a lot of things needed to fall into place before his dream is realised.

"GMac (Graeme McDowell) said to me before, if you want a good Ryder Cup record, you have to pick a good partner.

So I think myself and Rory would go well together. It would be nice to play with the best player in the world, but I'll play with anyone to be honest.

"But I think playing with Rory would be pretty good.”

Lowry is currently outside the automatic qualification spots for captain Harrington’s 12-man side in both the European and World Points rankings and may have to rely on one of the three available picks from his friend and compatriot to be sure of a place on the side heading west whenever the matches are played.

Speaking as a Paddy Power ambassador during a live broadcast via the firm’s official Instagram page today, Lowry joked he was softening Harrington up by liking the three-time major champion’s instruction videos he has been posting on Twitter during the lockdown.

“Sending him messages saying ‘oh my god Padraig, that was amazing’,” Lowry said. “Look, I hope the Ryder Cup goes ahead, I hope it goes ahead with the crowds, I hope I’m on the team. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I think I'm going to have to play well regardless leading up to whenever the team is picked, because I’ve not played (Ryder Cup before), but I wouldn't really class myself as a rookie.

“They're very slow to pick rookies but when you look at what happened in Portrush last year and the ups and downs I’ve had in my career, and the stuff I’ve done, I wouldn't really class myself, other people might disagree with me, but hopefully… look, we’ll just have to wait and see, I don’t really know.

"I’m trying to be very politically correct here because I’m very conscious of who is listening - Harrington is on some dodgy account there listening to me.

“We just have to wait and see. I can't wait to get back playing golf, to get out and hopefully make some points and try to make the team.”