THE RYDER CUP

September 26, 2023

Shane Lowry

Marco Simone

Team Europe

Press Conference

STEVE TODD: I'm joined by Shane Lowry of Team Europe. I think we all know how passionate you are about the Ryder Cup. How has the experience been today, and how much are you looking forward to playing in front of the home fans?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it was good to get out there. It was nice to get 18 holes on. We can focus on different things now over the next couple days, playing nine each day. Obviously I'm very excited to be here.

I feel very excited for the team we have, and I'm looking forward to a great week.

Q. Two weeks ago you were asked about the negative reaction in some quarters about you being picked for this European team, and you said it didn't sit very well with you and you felt like you deserved your place on the team. I'm wondering, are you still annoyed, and if so, what are you particularly annoyed about? Did you think it was disrespectful from some people in golf considering your career?

SHANE LOWRY: No. I think even with my year that I've had, statistically it's better than some of the people that you were talking about that should have been picked ahead of me. Statistics don't lie. That's the reason I'm here.

Obviously I showed the couple of weeks after that that I played some pretty good golf, and to be honest, I feel like at the Irish Open and Wentworth I've played some of the best golf I've played all year.

So 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.

I felt like at the Irish Open, what should have been an amazing few days after getting picked on the Ryder Cup Team, was kind of a bit of a downer for me because I had to kind of fight off all this negative talk in my head. But I did a good job of that.

Look, it's a small thing that you just block out and you go and play your game. But yeah, I think -- look, I said it at the Irish Open. I think we have the 12 best players in Europe here this week. I'm very confident in our team.

Q. We in Ireland are well aware of the family's legacy in sport with your dad and your uncles playing a different sport, of course, but it was a team sport. Could you talk a little bit about how much team sports mean to you, and kicking on a little bit from the last question, how much of a role as a leader you can actually play this time around?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah. Look, obviously team sports played a big part in my whole life growing up, and I think it's where I get my competitiveness from is my dad and his brothers, my uncles.

Growing up in that environment was pretty cool, and I think a lot of it is what has got me to where I am today.

Look, I feel like I'm just myself. I don't try to be anyone else in the team room. I don't try to be anyone else when I'm here. I just be myself, and that just happens to be what I am. I'm in there, not that -- I'm generally the last person to leave the team room in the evenings. That's not for any other reason other than I just like hanging out and talking and drinking Diet Cokes -- probably not allowed to say that. Pepsi maybe? I'm going to get in trouble for that.

Look, I just like the environment of being around a lot of people. I always have.

I think if you see me, you guys come to a lot of tournaments, you see me at tournaments, I always have to have people around me. I hate being on my own, so I feel like I thrive in this environment.

Q. Following on from that, when we were speaking to you at Whistling Straits a few years ago, you said, look, I didn't cry when I won The Open, I didn't cry when my daughter was born, but I cried today. Is that how much it means to you?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, it's an emotional week, and even some of the stuff that's happened already this week would get you quite emotional.

I think being a part of something that is bigger than you or anything else is pretty cool, and I think Whistling Straits was hard to take. But it was quite motivating for me coming away from that, and it's quite motivating for me this week.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to going out there and hopefully earning some points for Europe, and hopefully we can all do a great job at trying to win the trophy back.

Q. You didn't go out until the afternoon last time. Are you sort of straining at the leash to get out there early this time?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, look, I'll do whatever I'm told. Honestly, I'm here. I don't care if I don't play at all and we win, I don't really care. I'm just here to win.

I think we're all here for the same cause.

Q. You said some things that have happened this week already to make you emotional. Might I ask for any details on that, please?

SHANE LOWRY: As I was saying that, I was like, probably shouldn't be saying this --

Q. Too late.

SHANE LOWRY: No, look, a lot of stuff goes into this week, and there's videos that are played in the team rooms in the evenings, motivational videos, and just kind of hits home a little bit. I'm not going to elaborate much further than that, but Luke and his team have done a great job already this week on Monday and Tuesday.

Yeah, I'm excited for what's to come the rest of the week.

Q. I remember at Gleneagles specifically Paul McGinley had blue and gold fish, and I think Alex Ferguson popped in to see the players and give them a motivational speech. Has anything like that happened?

SHANE LOWRY: Look, we don't have a fish tank in our team room this team, but there's no stone left unturned this week by the Tour. Everyone at the DP World Tour do an amazing job this week to make this week the most special week in golf. Not only on the golf course but looking after us, our families, everything about it.

I'm sure there's a few more surprises to come, and that's what makes it very special, as well.

Q. Have you cried already?

SHANE LOWRY: Yes.

Q. When you left Whistling Straits the last time, you said you were looking forward to getting back and getting another chance at one of these. How different is it coming in as a second timer as opposed to being a debutante, and last time at Whistling Straits there were no European fans because of the COVID restrictions. I'm sure you're looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd.

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah. Obviously it feels a lot different because I've been here before. Been in the environment and all that. But also this is my first home Ryder Cup.

There was obviously a few people out there today. Wasn't as big as obviously it's going to be maybe Thursday and Friday.

Yeah, it's going to be a lot different. It's going to be amazing.

But it's also -- there's going to be a few challenges that I might have to fight with myself over. You have to control your emotions out there. You don't want to let your emotions get the better of you.

I think at Whistling Straits, emotion, you kind of needed that to get you going because there was no fans to cheer you on. We'll see how this week goes, but that's kind of in my head what I'm thinking about this week so far.

Q. Do you just cry a lot now?

SHANE LOWRY: No.

Q. You said you didn't with the firstborn daughter; now it's before the tournament even starts?

SHANE LOWRY: Emotional stuff.

Q. Rory, I don't remember where he was, but Rory McIlroy said he'd love to go to battle with you this week, would love to play with you this week. Hearing a legend of the game saying that, what kind of emotion does that elicit in you? Don't cry.

SHANE LOWRY: 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 four-balls at Whistling Straits, and I think we maybe would like the opportunity to -- maybe we'd like the opportunity to go at it again and try and win a point this time.

But I honestly don't know. You might call whatever on that, but I honestly don't know what's going to happen on Friday on 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.

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.

Q. A question about Luke. Obviously in some respects he's like an accidental captain after what happened to Henrik, but how has he settled into the role? What's his style in your opinion? How is he in the team room?

SHANE LOWRY: Luke has been amazing. I've obviously gotten to know Luke over the last couple of years.

Luke doesn't say much, but when he says it, you listen, and he's always been that way. I think that he's that type of captain. I think he's very much a -- he will do everything in his power -- he will call the right shots. He'll make the hard decisions.

It's a tough one for a captain coming into this event, maybe being friendly with players and playing golf with them over the years and then having to maybe leave them out, drop them, make tough decisions.

I think Luke won't be afraid to do that, and I think that's what's going to make him a great captain.

Q. You seemed to be having a bit of fun on the eighth. Was that Rory's ball that went into the water?

SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it looked like me and Tommy were going to win the hole, and then he chipped in from nowhere, so that was disappointing. No, we were just having a bit of fun out there. We were having a game and he won the hole, so I threw his ball away. That was it.

Q. How was the Stade de France on Saturday?

SHANE LOWRY: Amazing, yeah.

Q. Do you watch that through an athlete's point of view, or do you watch that purely as a fan? Do you take anything from that into a week like this?

SHANE LOWRY: Purely as a fan. I know a few of the players personally on the Irish team, so it was nice to see them out there competing at that level. I think we're very excited about our rugby team and our chances over the next few weeks, and I'm all over that bandwagon.

Hopefully I'll go back in a few weeks for maybe quarterfinals or semifinals and hopefully more, but I probably wouldn't -- it's different. I think it's nice to see them doing well and it's nice to see them being successful, but I think when it comes to this week, you don't really use much, you're just there purely as a fan.