IT’S NOW, rather than later. Just days after his stunning 3 Irish Open success, Shane Lowry looks set to embark on life as a tour professional rather than wait to play in the Walker Cup in September. The 22-year-old Offalyman is expected to confirm his decision at a press conference in Dublin this afternoon.
Lowry, who had to pass over the €500,000 winner’s cheque at Baltray because of his amateur status, is set to join the Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management who include Graeme McDowell, Ross Fisher and Michael Hoey in their stable of professional golfers.
With a full tour card until the end of the 2011 season in his pocket, Lowry – who jumped into the world rankings at 168th, ahead of the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn and Paul McGinley – could make his pro debut as soon as next week’s European Open at The London Club.
Yesterday, someone put it to Paul Casey – a player currently ranked seventh in the world and with a chance in this week’s BMW PGA Championship of moving to the top of the Race to Dubai order of merit – that Lowry’s win raised questions about the strength and depth on the European Tour. Casey almost choked on his jaffa cakes.
“He’s clearly a brilliant player,” retorted Casey, who, it seems, watched every rain-soaked shot glued to his television at home in Arizona.
“I’m going to guess that he plays a lot of links golf and probably knows the course quite well . . . watching it, it looked like he played great golf. I wouldn’t take anything away from him or put down my fellow pros”.
“I mean, crikey, I played in the Johnnie Walker Classic (in Australia in February) and lost to Danny Lee and I thought the field was quite good there. I think it’s easier for amateurs now to make that transition to the pro ranks and win fairly early . . . but I think he (Lowry) deserved to win from the quality of the golf he played and it shouldn’t take anything away from the pros.”
Casey, for his part, is seeking a first BMW PGA title on a course where he has won a World Matchplay and returns to this side of the Atlantic encouraged by his best ever start on the US Tour, including victory in the Houston Open.
From a position of 48th in the world last July, the Englishman has leapfrogged his way up the rankings and a win here this week would leave only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – who has suspended his tour schedule indefinitely on the news his wife Amy has breast cancer – ahead of him.
Graeme McDowell is now in a similar position to the one that Casey was in almost a year ago. McDowell has fallen out of the world’s top 50, and is now positioned in 51st, but will tee it up here in Wentworth having been forced to withdraw from last week’s Irish Open in the third round with an injury similar to shin splints when he damaged his right anterior muscle when running down a tee box.
McDowell is one of nine Irishmen in the field along with Rory McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin, Gary Murphy, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie and John Kelly.
Pádraig Harrington has won the inaugural European Tour Players’ Player of the Year Award for 2008.
Selected Tee Times
First Round
7.40 – B Curtis (USA), G McDowell, R McIlroy.
7.50 – S Kjeldsen (Den), R Sterne (SA), O Wilson (Eng).
8.00 – H Stenson (Swe), R Karlsson (Swe), R Goosen (SA).
8.10 – E Els (SA), R Fisher (Eng), P Casey (Eng).
8.20 – A Hansen (Den), C Montgomerie (Scot), P McGinley
9.15 – M Brier (Aut), M Warren (Scot), M Hoey .
10.40 – G Maybin, S Benson (Eng), N Ludwell (Eng).
11.50 – J Sandelin (Swe), R Gonzalez (Arg), G Murphy.
12.45 – L Donald (Eng), J M Singh (Ind), D Clarke.
2.10 – P Larrazabal (Sp), Peter Lawrie, A Forsyth (Scot)
3.10 – J Kelly, P Edberg (Swe), L Slattery (Eng).
