The new Irish sporting superstar.
Shane Lowry won a golf tournament last night and has now arrived as a genuine Irish sporting superstar. Showing amazing character and superb skill, he won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
The whole country bit their fingernails as Bubba Watson birdied 17 and came to within one stroke of the Offaly man. We should have known he’d be okay with the pressure.
I did a gig in the International last Saturday night and Shane came in to see me. I tweeted about it and implied I was under pressure to deliver. This was his response:
RT @ericlalor The legend that is @ShaneLowryGolf is in the Inter. No pressure so
Pressure is for tyres
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) July 31, 2015
Pressure is for tyres he says. He won the Bridgestone Invitational despite all the pressure. Bridgestone is a tyre company lads! He’s a prophet!
1) He’s got a sporting pedigree
Shane is the son of former Offaly county footballer, Brendan. He was part of the Offaly team which shocked Kerry in the All-Ireland Final of 1982, preventing them from winning five in a row.
https://youtu.be/Xz3IQMzr5h8
2) He won the Irish Open as an amateur
In 2009, Shane won the Irish Open at Baltray, County Louth as an amateur becoming only the third amateur to win a tournament on the European tour.
He shot a round of 62 on the way to winning the tournament to equal the lowest scored ever carded by an amateur on the European Tour.
3) He had to lie about his age to play pitch and putt at the local club
His first flirtation with golf came when he was nine. His dad bought him a putter and a wedge and he decided to give the local pitch and putt club a go.
However, the age limit was ten and over, so he lied, told them he was ten and in he went.
4) One of his best friends play hurling for Offaly
Shane Lowry loves his GAA and played a lot of football when he was younger. When he took up golf, he forged a friendship with current Offaly county hurler, Derek Molloy.
Both of them played rounds together as teenagers at Lowry’s local club, Esker Hills and still remain good friends today.
5) He is now ranked in the top 20 golfers in the world
Following his sensational win at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last night, Shane has jumped up 29 places to 19 in the world rankings.
He’s now the second highest ranked Irish golfer on the planet behind World Number One, Rory McIlroy.
