Despite having valuable Ryder Cup experience having represented Team Europe in the 2021 match, Shane Lowry was one of the more controversial of Luke Donald’s wildcard picks for the 2023 edition at Marco Simone.
That’s because Lowry will head into the match on the back of a year that, by his standards, has been disappointing. Before last week’s Horizon Irish Open, the 36-year-old had only achieved one top-10 finish in 2023, with a T5 in the Honda Classic.
He went some way to addressing that issue at the K Club with a T3, but concerns remain over whether the 2019 Open champion will show the kind of form needed to help Team Europe reclaim the trophy it lost to Team USA at Whistling Straits two years ago.
Lowry, along with the rest of Donald’s team, is in the field this week BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. As he prepares to defend the title he won in 2022, he launched a passionate defence of his abilities ahead of the biennial match at the end of September.
On the questions over his selection, he said: “I know there was a little bit about that last week and me, and – need to be careful here. Didn’t sit very well with me to be honest. I feel like, yes, my results have not been amazing this year, but I feel if you purely go down to statistics and go down to the 12 best players in Europe, I’m one of them. And I feel like I deserve my place on the team.”
Lowry also insisted that he didn’t have anything to prove at last week’s tournament. He continued: “I didn’t feel like I had to go out and prove anything to anyone last week. The Irish Open is important to me and a tournament I wanted to play well in.
“If I shut a few people up, so be it, but I wasn’t trying to do that last week. I wasn’t trying to finish third last week. I was trying to win last week. So last week was disappointing for me.
“This week is the same. I’m trying to win the tournament here this week. I know I deserve to be on that team and I know I’ll be good in Rome in a couple of weeks, and I’m very excited for it.”
Lowry is also convinced that he will bring plenty to the team. He explained: “I think I’m a good player for a start. I think I’m not going to be afraid of anyone that…
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