JP MCMANUS PRO-AM

July 5, 2022

Shane Lowry

Adare Manor Golf Club

Quick Quotes

NEIL AHERN: Thanks for joining us. As an Irishman, give us a sense of this event and to JP and what it's all about.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, obviously I played here in 2010, and I didn't know what to expect coming down here. I kind of knew what to expect coming down this week but it's kind of everything I expected and way more. I mean, obviously the whole place, it goes without saying, is like as five star as it gets, the hotel, golf course, the whole facility here and Adare but the crowds out there yesterday afternoon and the tournament, Brian, friend of mine was caddying for me and walking around, you're in awe of the whole place. It's pretty cool to be part of what JP and Moreen and the McManus family have done for Adare and Limerick is cool.

NEIL AHERN: How good will the course be as a Ryder Cup venue?

SHANE LOWRY: Obviously it will be very special. It's going to be a great Ryder Cup. I just really hope I'm part of it. I hope I'm playing. That's kind of -- I'll be touching 40 at that stage so I'll be -- hopefully I'm still going and still going strong and that's definitely a long-term goal of mine is to be part of that team.

Q. I don't know how often you look back to winning The Open Championship but how often do you?

SHANE LOWRY: Every day -- no. (Laughter).

Q. Is there something that stands out from that week for you?

SHANE LOWRY: No, look, obviously you look back at The Open in Portrush and I just feel very fortunate I got to achieve something like that to be honest. Like obviously I would have loved to win an Open anywhere but to do it in Portrush and do it how I did, it was obviously extra special. I still don't think, and I only say -- I said in another interview early on, I was fortunate to win the Irish Open as an amateur and I didn't think I could top that and winning Portrush on 18 green would maybe get better than that out here.

It's probably the one tournament that I would play in my whole career that I would really want to win more than anything else was that tournament in Portrush and I got to do it so that was pretty cool.

Q. How are your preparations going for St Andrews?

SHANE LOWRY: Pretty good. I had a decent Irish Open last week. I played good golf yesterday. So I'm pretty confident and I played some links golf here in Ireland towards the end of this week and head over to St Andrews on Sunday morning and yeah I'm really looking forward to it.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look this is as good a course as you'll get anywhere and it's as good a condition golf course as you'll get anywhere. I've said it since the first day I came here, when they redid, it when JP redid it. It's as good as anything.

I try to play here as much as I can when I have time off, just to prepare for going back out on TOUR because I think it is one of the golf courses that I can go to in Ireland that prepares me for tournament. It's pretty cool to have that here.

Q. Strength of field, it's outrageous. How does JP do it?

SHANE LOWRY: I couldn't tell you how many people have asked me that over the last couple of weeks and still don't have the answers. I think when you get here and you just see the hospitality that everyone gets, how good a time everybody is having, speaking to a few of the American golfers, they can't believe how good the place it. The wives are getting looked after; that's a big thing, keep them happy and the players will be happy. It's been an incredible few days.

If he was to have it again in a few weeks' time, I think everyone would come back again. That's a testament to what they have done here this week.

Q. It's a huge strength of field from coming all over at a time when golf is quite divided and plenty of LIV Tour players. Has it been divisive behind the scenes, and I think there was a players meetings, can you tell us about anything that was discussed at the players meeting?

SHANE LOWRY: No, I never heard of any players' meeting, I think I would probably be a part of it after awhile. I don't believe that's true.

It's absolutely not divisive. Look, there's Lee Westwood, I like him (Westwood walking by)(laughter).

Look, like we all said, everyone has their own decisions for their own stuff and what's been here, we're down in the bar every night for a barbeque. We have the gala tonight, we are all sitting around having a good time and that's what we are here for. We are not here for anything else other than to raise a lot of money for charities and charities around the Limerick area. Yeah, that's all I really have to say on that.

Q. Wondering if you could put a few words on the Højgaard brothers, winning before turning 21?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, obviously they are two of the future stars of European golf and probably expect one of them if not both of them to be here in 2027 in The Ryder Cup. I've played with the two of them and they are pretty good golfers. They have got a huge future ahead of them.

They are young, so I think everyone around them and in Denmark and European golf needs to be patient with them. It's not just going to happen overnight just because it happened pretty quickly for the likes of Rory at that stage, you need to be patient because golf is a long career. You just need to be patient and let them kind of keep going and keep progressing the way they are and like I said, I'm sure they will be here in 2027 and be part of European golf in the future.

Q. Are you surprised at how fast they have won a couple of events?

SHANE LOWRY: No, because they are pretty good at golf. So no, not at all. I don't think anyone is. I've heard about them. Søren Kjeldsen told me about them before they turned pro and I knew about them, and then they come out and did it which is pretty cool.

I can only go on what I did. I fell in love with the game in my early teenage years, and I just put so much time into it. I wouldn't say effort, because I loved doing it. It was something I did every day, practiced my chipping and putting a lot. Just try and fall in love with it and try and make it fun at a young age and then if you are getting good at it, start taking the practise a bit more serious, and seeing how good you can get.