THE RYDER CUP MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 13, 2021

Shane Lowry

Media Conference

Q. Clearly this has been on your mind, what is going to happen now as a Ryder Cup player and it's something that you would have thought about from the moment you turned professional. As a pick, distinct from being an automatic player, will that affect --

SHANE LOWRY: I was very close to making the team anyway. I think I probably played good enough golf to almost make the team which I nearly did. A few things went against me the last couple of weeks which didn't help me.

Obviously, look, Bernd has played unbelievable golf this week. He was under a serious amount of pressure to deliver and he did, and fair play to him for that, he not being on the team; and I had a chance to pass Westy up today, I didn't do that. But yeah, look, I'm just -- I said to myself at the start of the week and even start of the day I'm obviously going out trying to win one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world today.

It's a funny one, I get a phone call from Paddy this evening, doesn't matter what I've done, I'm just happy and over the moon and I'm confident in my own ability. I have huge mount of self-belief that I can go there and deliver points for Europe and that's all that matters, really. Doesn't matter whether you made the team No. 1 or the last man to have done it. I have the self-belief that I can deliver points and that's what it's all about.

Q. Obviously golf is a selfish, individual sport but you have a lot of cross every given your own family background in team sports. What do you think you might be able to bring from that into a Ryder Cup, and also, your earliest memory of Irish involvements in Ryder Cups.

SHANE LOWRY: You know, obviously, look, I don't know what I can bring -- I do know I can bring good golf. I can bring -- I feel like I'll be good in the team room. I feel like I get on well with everyone. I think what can I bring? I can just bring myself and be myself. I think myself is good enough to be honest. If I do that and if I go to Whistling Straits in a couple of weeks and be myself, you know, do what I can do, I can achieve a lot that week and achieve a lot for the team.

Yeah, look, as regards my background and all that stuff, I'm not sure if that's going to be a help or anything. But it's not going to harm me.

Q. What's your earliest memory?

SHANE LOWRY: One of my earliest memories of The Ryder Cup obviously would be -- I don't quite remember Valderrama. I remember Brookline. I remember watching Brookline on TV. I remember, one of my fondest early memories, is McGinley holing that putt to win at The Belfry in 2002. I remember watching that, and obviously a tended, I was at the try day of the 2006 Ryder Cup. Good memories of that.

And look, I'm going to create some good memories next week and I'm extremely excited about it.

Q. You said you were quite a constant but if you had not been picked, had you contemplated how that would have felt if you had not got the call?

SHANE LOWRY: I haven't really thought about it to be honest. I obviously wouldn't have been too happy. But I would have been quite disappointed. I would have been a lonely man heading off to the hotel tonight.

But I don't have to think about that thankfully. I got the pick and the nod and I'm very grateful that Paddy and his vice captains have put the trust in me and hopefully I can go out and deliver for them in ten days.

Q. Have you been confident all summer?

SHANE LOWRY: It's funny, because playing all year, really all I wanted to do was make The Ryder Cup Team. That's all that's mattered to me all year. I sat down with my team at the end of 2018 and I said right, lads, the next two years, it's been three years with COVID but I want to make that team. That's what I want to do. One thing that's going to make me happy is I want to play at Whistling Straits.

As the weeks went on, I had good weeks and was playing solid golf and every week felt like I was ticking another box as to what I need to do to make the team. I felt like I kept going out there with pressure on me and I felt like I kept delivering. If you keep doing that you obviously deserve to be there and I feel like I deserve to be there and I feel like I've been playing quite consistently good and quite solid over summer.

Like I said, I feel like I do deserve to be there.

Q. When you want something so badly it's wonderful when you finally achieve it, and you mentioned in your interview with Nick Dougherty you were able to share that moment with your dad and it's a proud moment for you all. And Leona Maguire's performance, I'm sure that probably whetted your appetite even more to be part of the team going to Whistling Straits?

SHANE LOWRY: Absolutely. Obviously I was glued to the Solheim Cup last week and what Leona was doing, and even a bit of an extra interest, Dermot obviously caddies for her and has been for the last few months and they are doing very well together.

So yeah, to watch them and to watch that European Team go to America on their soil and win the Solheim Cup was incredible, and you know, the Americans are our favorites for that one and Europe managed to turn them over. Obviously what Leona did was incredible and I spoke to Dermot a few weeks ago about her and he said she's one of the best competitors that he's ever seen.

So she showed that last week and hopefully I can go and do similar next week at Whistling Straits.

Q. That moment with your dad, very special?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, my dad, he was -- I think he was -- we were in the players' lounge waiting for the call and he was obviously very anxious and it was just -- a lovely picture with the two of us we might share over the next few days.

It's incredible because he's my No. 1 fan and he's been there through it all, and you know, he was there in 2016 when I felt like I was close to the team and didn't make it and he was there to pick me up off the -- he started to pick me up off the bad times and it's great to have him there to enjoy the good times, as well. So this is definitely a good time in my career and it's great to have him here to share that with me.