Shane Lowry mourns loss of uncle Jimmy, pledges to do him proud

FAMILY PRIDE: Lowry hits from a bunker AT THE 8TH ON SATURDAY in Palm Beach Gardens

SHANE Lowry will go into Sunday's final round of the Hionda Classic in Florida only four shy shy of the leader Chris Kirk - but he has admitted he wanted to go home to Offaly Thursday after learning of the sudden death of his uncle Jimmy at 66.

Lowry shot 65 on Saturday wearing the green and white colours of Ferbane GAA club on a golf hat ribbon in honour of his father's late brother. A clearly emotional Lowry paid tribute to his late uncle.

"It's very sad week for our family. To be honest, I wanted to go home on Thursday when I heard the news. A lot of people talked me out of it. (But) I'm here now. I'm trying to play for him and play for his wife and his kids and my cousins and my uncles and my aunts and everyone at home because we're a very close family and very proud of our name and very proud of where we come from. Green and white is just where he's from, that's Ferbane in Offaly. Hopefully I can go out and make him proud tomorrow. Everyone keeps telling me how proud he was of me over the last number of years, and hopefully I can do him another day proud tomorrow.

"He's two years older than my dad, so he's 66. He's just a great man. He loved working. He loved hard work. He loved hardship. He was big into Gaelic games at home. He didn't necessarily play at the highest level, but he was very involved and loved in the community, and he was just a great man. He was great craic, and I loved him".

Ferbane GAA club posted a social media tribute to Jimmy Lowry saying he "took justifiable pride in bearing a surname that is synonymous with the GAA in Ferbane, Offaly and far further afield. While the immense on-field contribution of his illustrious footballing brothers may have overshadowed Jimmy’s service to Gaelic Games, his own impact stands tall against any measurement." 

Shane Lowry added: "It's been very difficult not to be there at home for my dad because my dad is a big softy and he'll take this quite hard. But I'll see him in a couple of weeks when he comes out here."

His Saturday 65 included a chip in at PGA National's No 11, and Lowry added:  "If I can just hang around all day, hopefully I can give myself a chance coming down the stretch.

"I did what I needed to do today. With the way the conditions were, I knew I probably needed to go out and shoot a decent score, I did, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Lowry tees off at 6.25pm Irish time on Sunday.