Shane Lowry possesses a career that many golfers can only dream of.
Lowry won The Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, triumphed at The Open Championship in 2019 and then holed the putt that retained the Ryder Cup for Europe at Bethpage Black six years later.
The Ryder Cup means everything to Lowry, and that much is obvious just by seeing the passion he exudes when playing in the competition.
The European victory was made all the sweeter after Lowry received some nasty abuse at the Ryder Cup in New York.
The 38-year-old was reduced to tears after his putt on the 18th hole at Bethpage found the bottom of the cup.
“I mean, I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game,“ he said after halving his match with Russell Henley. “That was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life, honestly. I just can’t believe that putt went in.
“The Ryder Cup means everything to me. Honestly, I’ve won The Open in Ireland; it’s amazing, it’s a dream come true. But the Ryder Cup for me is everything.
“To do that there today on the 18th green in front of everyone…it was so hard out there.“
However, the emotions he would have felt from winning The Open Championship at Royal Portrush back in 2019 would surely have been right up there as well.
Shane Lowry compares his Open win and the 2025 Ryder Cup
The Golfing Gazette attended a virtual press conference ahead of The Skins Game, being shown live on Amazon Prime on November 28th, and asked Lowry directly which moment was cooler out of holing the putt to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage and his Open victory at Portrush.
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“Oooof, what a question. I feel very lucky to have done both.
“Ah, I just can’t answer that question. I think Bethpage was cooler than Portrush for a few reasons.
“The way it all panned out on Sunday and obviously what happened on the 18th green. But I look back on Portrush as probably the greatest individual achievement of my career and it probably will be no matter what I do for the rest of my career.
“But with the amount I put into Ryder Cup and how much I love it, I think Bethpage was obviously very, very special and Keegan’s already told me, he’s already told me I’m not allowed to talk about it too much, so I’m not going to talk on it much more.“
Xander Schauffele then joined in the banter by saying: “That’s like choosing which one of your kids is your favorite.“
To which Lowry responded by saying: “Yeah, that’s a good way of looking at it. I’ve got two kids and it’s like you asking me which one of my two girls do I love more? Yeah, that’s pretty much it.“
In fairness, it was an impossible question for Lowry to answer. However, he did make it clear that holing the putt on the 18th hole at Bethpage was the cooler moment out of the two.
What Shane Lowry said to his caddie before holing his putt on the 18th at the Ryder Cup
Lowry performed a remarkable turnaround in his match against Russell Henley in the Sunday singles, coming back from two down with four holes to play to halve his match with the American.
Before he holed his six-foot putt on the 18th green, Lowry knew he was on the cusp of making history.
He said: “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe that putt went in. I said to Darren [Reynolds] walking down 18 that I have a chance to do the coolest thing of my life here.“
And that he did.
Lowry had already written his name in the golfing history books with his win at Royal Portrush back in 2019.
However, holing the putt to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe at Bethpage Black further cemented his legacy.
*The Capital One Skins Game” coverage begins Friday, November 28 at 9:00 AM ET / 6:00 AM PT on Prime Video, with no subscription or Prime membership required.
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