Shane Lowry: 'I told him his golf isn’t incredible, but it’s much better than my tennis'

Shane Lowry said the hardest part of his putt which retained the Ryder Cup for Europe was seeing vice-captain José María Olazábal crying as he addressed the ball. 

Shane Lowry played the pro-am at the Spanish Open with world number one ranked tennis player Carlos Alcaraz. Pic: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Shane Lowry is sure there's going to be a comedown soon from the high of Europe winning the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black 10 days ago, but it hasn't come yet.

The Offalyman tees off this week at the Spanish Open. He hasn't played a whole lot of golf since realising a lifelong dream: holing the putt which ensured Team Europe at the very least would retain the Ryder Cup. 

"I've had an amazing week," said Lowry.

"Even sitting in the players' lounge this morning, having breakfast, people coming up wanting to go talk about it. It's pretty cool. I always love coming back to play in Europe and get to see all my old friends. It's nice to feel the love.

"Obviously what happened is pretty cool. It's what dreams are made of, really. I'm sure there's going to be a little comedown at some stage.

“You come from a huge high and I’m not going to lie, it can be hard to return to 'normal' tournaments. But in the end, you’re a competitor and you always want to be your best version.

"But it's nice to be back on the horse this week here in Spain. Nice to get back out, compete, and quickly try to forget a little bit about what happened. But it will be hard. 

"It's something that I never foresaw myself doing. You don't know how you're going to handle it. Like I said week of the Ryder Cup, just be myself and see how it goes."

Lowry said the hardest part of that putt on the 18th against Russell Henley was seeing Team Europe vice-captain José María Olazábal in tears as he addressed the ball. 

"Honestly, Olazábal is the best man I’ve ever met," Lowry told Spanish website ten-golf.com. "The hardest part of the 18th putt was looking and seeing him sitting at the front of the green, crying. 

"You feel the weight of history: Seve, all that it means. Having him there and him hugging me after sinking it was incredible. And the relationship with Jon (Rahm) that I’ve built over these years. I think as a team Bethpage brought us much closer; afterwards, we were like brothers. That was something wonderful about the whole week."

Lowry played the pro-am at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid on Wednesday alongside world number one ranked tennis star Carlos Alcaraz.

"I told him his golf isn’t incredible, but it’s much better than my tennis," said Lowry.

"Spending a couple of hours with him, with what he’s already achieved at such a young age, was great."

Lowry will tee-off on Thursday alongside home favourites Rahm and Angel Hidalgo, the reigning champion. Rahm said earlier this week that Lowry was the player he wanted most in his group. "I’d like to thank him again for what he did at the Ryder Cup," said Rahm. He got his wish.

"You know, I haven't done much practice over the last few days," said Lowry, who finished 13th in the tournament at the same venue last year. 

"I'm going to do some this afternoon. If we can get through Thursday with a decent round, you never know."