Shane Lowry wants to “win in a different way” when the Ryder Cup is in Rome in 2023 – with no booing and definitely no abuse to players’ families.
The former Open champion’s wife Wendy was among those who were verbally abused by some of the crowd at Whistling Straits last week, and the Irishman admitted that the fans were a factor in the Europeans’ performance.
‘I knew it was going to happen’
Shane Lowry's Dad celebrates his winning putt.#TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/C9L5GePeft
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 25, 2021
“I didn’t think it was that bad until I asked my wife what it was like for her, and they got dog’s abuse coming around as well,” he said. “It’s not very nice for them to have to listen to that. But that’s a small percentage of the crowd.
“I finished my match on 16 on Sunday and I was walking back down to and follow the other groups and I got a huge ovation off the crowd and in the grandstand on 16, that was pretty cool. And I thought I got on well with the crowd last week as best I could.
“I knew it was going to happen. I said it to my wife at the start of the week. And I warned my Dad not to get involved with anyone. It’s just the way it is.
“They are obviously a home crowd and they are going to be partisan. But some of the stuff is not very nice.
“Some people are idiots, especially when they drink. Nobody turns into a genius drinking, do they? Especially if you were out in the afternoon matches, it was loud.”
‘You don’t even get a ripple of applause’
This is what it means to me. Big day tomorrow 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 @RyderCupEurope pic.twitter.com/KhF05YnPUL
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) September 26, 2021
While he could brush off the insults, the Ryder Cup debutant found it was still a difficult environment to play in.
“As a team it was hard for us to perform our best,” he continued. “No matter what you say, you stand up and you hit a 3-iron into ten feet from 250 yards and you don’t even get a ripple of applause. You almost get booed for it.
“Bethpage (the next US host course) in 2025 is going to be horrendous. But it will be a great chance to shut them up. That’s the way I see it. There is nothing better than holing a 20-footer and turning around to see them all standing there dead silent. That’s amazing.
“Look, it is what it is. I don’t think it’s going to be like that in Rome. We will obviously have the home support, but we’ll be hopefully winning a bit of a different way.”
‘I love playing here’
In a little over 24 hours time, this world famous course will be buzzing with activity as the 2021 #dunhilllinks tees off pic.twitter.com/FwSlWs7i6g
— Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (@dunhilllinks) September 29, 2021
Lowry doesn’t quite know how he’ll react to the fatigue from last week’s effort, but he wasn’t missing the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this week.
“I can’t quite believe I’m playing at 9am at Carnoustie tomorrow,” he laughed. “It feels more like a Tuesday than a Wednesday.
“I’m here this year to play with Gerry (McManus, son of JP) and have a good time. My dad and his friends always come over. It’s a week that I do love, and I love playing here.
“Obviously it’s going to be a little bit of a comedown from last week. Be interesting to see how it goes. But look, I’ll just go out play my best and see what happens.”
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