Lowry cool under the lights

A LESS laid-back individual might have frozen in front of the media frenzy, but yesterday Shane Lowry took it all in his stride as the new Irish Open champion turned down the opportunity to play Walker Cup and confirmed he is to pursue a career in the paid ranks.

These days everybody wants a piece of Lowry, and yesterday’s announcement at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin was no different. From an apparent conveyor belt of talent, Ireland’s latest hot property from the fairways had to remain patient amid the flashes as photographers scrummaged for position in front of him.

“You could go blind sitting up here,” Lowry was heard to say as the way eventually parted and the champion was found waiting behind the array of microphones. The star attraction was casually dressed in a smart shirt, dark suit and flanked by his new manager, Conor Ridge, from Horizon Sports Management.

Round two, the media frenzy all over again and the calmest man in the room was sitting at the top table with cameras pointed in his direction. We should have expected nothing less after his performance in last Sunday’s play-off.

“Coming off the 18th green last week I thought to myself, ‘there’s nothing else I can do, to be honest’,” said Lowry of his decision to turn professional. “It never really entered my head. Last week I was an amateur and my goal was to play Walker Cup, but that all changed on Sunday evening.”

After out-gunning the professionals in Louth, the 22-year-old was faced with the dilemma of whether to stay amateur and take on the Americans in the team event at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania in September, or to jump straight onto the European Tour.

With a two-year exemption, plus the rest of this season, many would have given their right arm to be in Lowry’s position. So, against the advice of the likes of Pádraig Harrington, who places his three Walker Cups high on his list of achievements, Lowry opted for the professional route sooner rather than later.

“I spoke to Colin (Dalgleish, Britain and Ireland Walker Cup captain) on Monday and again on Wednesday morning. Obviously he was disappointed, but he said he wasn’t going to try and change my mind,” added Lowry, who hadn’t spoke to Harrington but did take advice from Michael McGinley, Paul’s father, Rory McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell.

“The last few days have been madness, I haven’t picked up a club since Sunday, but I generally do okay after a few days’ break,” quipped Lowry, who will tee it up in next week’s European Open at the London Club in Kent.

The following week he will compete in the Celtic Manor Wales Open before trying to earn a place at the British Open through International Qualifying at Sunningdale on Monday, June 8th.

“I just found out I’m also getting into the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and the HSBC Championship, that’s very exciting,” added the new world 168.

Lowry will stick with his caddie, Dave Reynolds, and keep the winning formula of being coached by GUI head coach Neil Manchip, for whom he has huge respect.

It also didn’t take long for the management companies to come calling, but Lowry said he was only ever going to sign with Horizon.

“I decided who I was going with quickly enough,” added the former plus-five handicapper. “There were texts and missed calls from other management companies but I didn’t even look at what they had to offer. Horizon look after Graeme McDowell and Ross Fisher and I feel this is the right move.”

By joining Horizon he doesn’t get a signing-on fee. “We don’t operate like that,” said Ridge, adding his phone has been busy in the last 24 hours with sponsorship and endorsement opportunities, all of which will be dealt with in the coming weeks.

The Irish Sports Council yesterday weighed in with a €20,000 grant to assist Lowry’s transition into the paid ranks.

“This is uncharted territory for us too. We’ve never managed a player who turned pro four days after winning the first European Tour event he played in,” added Ridge.

So, how does Lowry think he will cope with the spotlight in his first event as a professional next week? “I don’t think it’s going to be that hard at all. There has been so much hype this week, it can’t be any more than this,” he smiled.

The lad from Clara, cool as you like, confidence in abundance and a game to match.