Shane Lowry Hints At Ryder Cup Partnership With Rory McIlroy

Shane Lowry is at Marco Simone preparing for his second Ryder Cup appearance after making his debut in Europe's defeat to the US at Whistling Straits in 2021.

His first outing on that occasion came in the Friday afternoon fourball matches when he was paired with Rory McIlroy, but it ended with disappointment for the duo as Tony Finau and Harris English won 4&3.

Following a practice session ahead of the 2023 edition, Lowry admitted he’d like the chance for the pair to put that right this year.

He said: “Look, obviously, Rory and I are good friends, so I think we would love to play together, and we’d love to go out there at some stage. We probably feel like we didn’t do ourselves justice in fourballs at Whistling Straits, and I think maybe we’d like the opportunity to go at it again and try and win a point this time.”

The decision over whether to hand Lowry and McIlroy another chance to prove themselves in a pairing will come down to Team Europe captain Luke Donald, and the 2019 Open champion admitted he’s had no indication whether his wish will be granted.

He continued: “I honestly don’t know. You might call whatever on that, but I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen on Friday or Saturday yet. We haven’t been told. We’re going to play together and we’re going to play the next couple of days, and I’m sure we’ll find out soon. But obviously would be nice.”

Lowry doesn’t need any reminders of McIlroy’s ability, but he got one anyway during the practice session in the form of McIlroy’s outrageous holed shot from the brutal Ryder Cup rough. He acknowledged that they don’t come much better than the four-time Major winner, no matter which era you turn to.

He said: “Look, anybody would want to play with Rory. He’s one of the best players in the world. He’s one of the best players in my opinion - he’s in the top players of all time already, and he’s not even nearly finished. Yeah, it would be nice to go out there with him.”

Assuming Lowry appears before the Sunday singles, regardless of who he is paired with, he will face scrutiny because of a perceived poor run of form heading into the match. However, he insisted he would be an asset to the team.

He continued: “I’m pretty happy where my game is at coming into this week. And I always feel coming in here that I can add a lot to the team not only on the golf course but in the team room and around, all of that. Yeah, that’s just how I felt. That’s how I feel.

“Look, you have to back yourself. If people are talking about you saying you shouldn’t be on the team or this, that and the other, it’s obviously not going to sit well with you because you feel like you should be there and you want to be there.”

Regardless of how Donald utilises him – and whoever he may be paired with – Lowry is evidently confident he can play a big part in helping Team Europe reclaim the trophy.