Shane Lowry soaking up the European vibes at The K Club

Lowry thinks a European Tour event is perfect preparation for the Ryder Cup

Shane Lowry at the Amgen Irish Open Pro/Am at The K Club, Kildare. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Shane Lowry has had quite the week already with his selection as a captain’s pick for this month’s Ryder Cup but though the European mission to Bethpage Black looms large, he insisted the upcoming battle with the USA would not be a distraction on home soil at this week’s Amgen Irish Open.

It is 16 years since Lowry famously won his national open as amateur in the rain at County Louth and though he has since won a Claret Jug with his victory at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, a second Irish Open title, this time as a professional, remains a career goal.

His latest bid begins on Thursday in Kildare as he returns to the Palmer North at The K Club when he tees off in the company of American LIV rebel Brooks Koepka and Martin Couvra of France at 07:50 from the 10th tee. And though a third Ryder Cup appearance is on his mind, just three days after he was named as Europe captain Luke Donald’s first of six picks for the 12-man team, he insisted it would not affect his focus on the Irish Open.

“We prepare for big tournaments all the time, and you always have like bigger goals ahead,” Lowry said. “But I think, once you get back to like the small task at hand and the small goals that you have… not small, I'm not saying the Irish Open is small. I would love to win the Irish Open. I've been lucky enough to win one, and to win it as a pro as well would be amazing.

“I think the big goal over the next month is to win the Ryder Cup. I think you bring it back to your day today as a sportsman, and that's what you do. Even like this afternoon, what do I do to recover as well as I can? Obviously, I've got tomorrow in mind and the rest of the week, but I've also got the Ryder Cup in mind and the bigger goals in mind.

“Yeah, you just look at that, but you take it day by day. That's how we live our lives.” 

With two DP World Tour events on European soil remaining before Donald leads his team Stateside for a two-day reconnaissance mission to New York’s Bethpage Black ahead of the biennial battle with the Americans beginning September 26, an Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth the following week may not seem like the ideal tune-up for a potentially volatile Ryder Cup on Long Island, Lowry believes his schedule is perfect for getting a sense of the main event to come.

“I think it actually works well for us Europeans, because we get to come to the environment that we're essentially playing for. I feel like, when you go play the Ryder Cup, you're playing for much more than just the 12 lads there or the caddies or the people that are there, I feel like you're playing for the Tour. You're playing for a lot of other people on the outside.

“So I feel like to put ourselves in that environment over the next two weeks, it kind of shows what it would mean to everyone. You're getting well wishes off everybody. It's not even just the Europeans on Tour, it's the other guys, the Kiwis or the South Africans. I think everyone has a want for the European Ryder Cup team to win this Ryder Cup, and I think putting ourselves in that environment… it's good preparation for me, but I don't know about other people, what they would think. I quite enjoy being around the environment of the European Tour and especially with what we've got coming up.” 

Lowry underlined just what a Ryder Cup victory on American soil would mean to him and his team.

“If we win the Ryder Cup in a few weeks, I don't really care what's gone on the rest of the season. It's a big thing for me. Obviously you go through the whole year and you're trying to win and trying to play well and you've got lots of goals, but a big, big goal for me was win the Ryder Cup this year at Bethpage, and it hasn't changed.

“I think, if we're sitting there in the team room on a Sunday, nobody will care what's gone on over the last eight months, so, yeah, it's way up there with me. As I get older, it's getting even more and more important. I just love to do it.”